Kingdom Hearts: Heart and Soul
by LightandDarkHeart
Summary: Tegan had no idea what would happen when she found a videogame villain in her backyard. Now she must team up with new heroes and old ones to save the worlds from a new threat. All the while she must discover her place in this mess while secrets about her past come up to shell-shock everyone. Sounds easy right? Read and find out. Contains OCs. Rated T just in case. OC/Vanitas
1. Finding Villains in your backyard

_Hi there! Here's my first story submitted up for Fanfic! I hope you all like it! I own nothing but any OCs mentioned in here. All Disney characters and Kingdom Hearts (and/or Final Fantasy) are property of Disney and Square Enix. _

_The halls of the Castle That Never Was were desolate and quiet. The eerie silence that hung over the massive structure was almost suppressive and threatened to choke out everything and anything. Not a soul walked the halls…_

_ Suddenly a scream broke through the oppressive silence. A blood-curdling, gut-wrenching scream that rattled the walls and came from the dungeons. More screams followed, each louder than the next until the screamer's voice gave out…_

_ "Are you ready to cooperate with us, boy?" A deep, raspy voice spoke out. It came from inside one of the closed cells, meaning the voice's owner was more than likely inflicting the pain on the person within. There was a moan and the sound of someone coughing up something. This just resulted in a sinister chuckling sound. The person who spoke was laughing…_

_ "Well?" He continued. "Are you going to answer or do we need to continue?" _

_ Another voice spoke up, a young man's. Even though the voice was filled with pain, there was still a cocky edge to it. _

_ "Like… I said old man…My answer is still the same…Hell…No!" _

_ Inside the cell, a young man lay bloody and beaten on the ground. Blood pours from multiple wounds and his skin is horribly bruised. As he tried to get up, a swift kick in the ribs sends the poor soul sprawling on the cold floor in a fit of coughing as he spits up blood. Above him, his assailant smiles sadistically down on him._

_ "I am sorry to say, that I simply cannot take that as an answer. It pains me to the core of my heart that after all I have done for you; this is the thanks I get. For shame."_

_ The young man chokes as he tries to clean his airway of his own blood. He bites back what he wants to say about the older man's "poor heart". As much as he would love to give him a piece of his mind, that would be way too stupid._

_ "Well if you will not cooperate with us, we have no further use for you" the old man continues. "But first, you have something I want…Now I think I will take it…" He slowly makes his way to the younger man. Although he is afraid, he knows he mustn't lose courage now. That would just be letting the old man win, and that was something he would not let happen._

_ The dungeons were quiet for a few minutes. Then a horrid scream let loose, much worse then all the others combined._

_ …_

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Tegan woke up with a jolt. She couldn't control herself for a few minutes, so she just kept screaming. When she finally calmed down, she held herself and tried to stop her shaking. Dawn broke and the first light of morning shone through the blinds of her bedroom window. With shaky footsteps, she made her way to it and threw open the shutters. A gush of cold air blew in her face and stopped her shaking for good. Taking a deep breath of the cool morning air, she thought to herself.

_My god, what a nightmare. It seemed so real too…That's it. No more playing videogames and watching horror movies til midnight, Tegan…_

Moving away from the window, she turned on the lamp by her bed, illuminating the green walls of her bedroom. Lying around on the floor were cases for games, movies, anime, and cds. Posters of rock bands and picture were plastered on the walls and random stuffed animals were flung all over the place. A red guitar was leaning on its rack against the wall next to an easel. A wooden shelf held a picture, a Heartless plush, and a metal chain with a funny looking locket on it. So it was your typical 16 year-olds room.

"Okay," Tegan sleepily muttered "First things, first; breakfast. I'm useless without my morning cup of coffee. Today's the day I start painting out in the woods, isn't it?"

Living by herself in the woods, Tegan was practically on the edge of civilization. It was about an hours drive by motorcycle to town, so she didn't deal with people much. This was fine with her. She had a falling out with the town's people, so she didn't like going into town unless she absolutely had to. Instead she spent her days painting the wildlife of the area, which was something she had a knack for.

Making her way downstairs to the kitchen, she mentally made a list one what she needed to bring with her. Easel, paints, brushes, rags, pencils…Fishing net, bear trap, sweat socks…? No those last weren't right.

_God, where's that coffee…?_

It wasn't til her cup of coffee did her brain start to function properly. So she wolfed down some cereal and went to work getting ready. Making quick work of her supplies packing, she took her time getting dressed in her clothes.

A dark green T-shirt with the words "Art" and "Soul" printed graffiti style on it was underneath a zip up dark gray wool hoodie (the sleeves were hacked off). After shrugging on her favorite brown shorts, fishnet leggings, and combat boots, Tegan slipped on a pair of red and white stripped fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows. Next was a blue wrist warmer and her leather choker with a big metal "X" on it and her locket. Now she was all set.

"Okay, off I go."

She made her way out the door, lugging a wagon holding her painting stuff and stuffing her trusty survival knife in her boot. She sang softly while walking through the trees, looking for a choice spot to set up shop. Her mind turned to the weird nightmare she had earlier. Not for a long time did she dream something that truly scared her, but that one really rattled her bones.

_What could that have meant? Usually if I have dreams that bad, something bad is right around the corner…_

A strange noise suddenly stopped her dead in her tracks. Tegan couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she just heard something moan. How was that possible? No one ever came out to her woods. Ever.

The noise came again. Whipping her head around, Tegan tried to find where it was coming from.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" she called out. She heard more moans from her right. Dropping the handle of the wagon and whipping out her knife, she crept over and looked behind some trees. What she saw made her blood run cold.

Propped up against a fallen tree was a boy her age. His spiky black hair had tree debris stuck in it and a cut on his forehead was trickling blood over his eyes. He wore a really weird black and red bodysuit with matching boots and a half-skirt that were all torn up, showing cuts and wounds that were heavily bleeding. His golden eyes were unfocused as he struggled to stay conscious. He tried to stand up using a very strange weapon to support himself, too. It looked like a cross between a sword and a key, but was very sinister looking and was covered in gears and chains. Tegan's eyes widened.

"A Keyblade…" she breathed. She was without a doubt positive that it was real, which mean that this could only be one person. Vanitas. A villain from the Kingdom Hearts series crying out loud!

Vanitas looked over in her direction at the sound of her voice. His eyes focused ever so slightly before he passed out. Quick as a flash, Tegan ran up and caught him before he got himself hurt even more. She leaned him back against the tree while her mind reeled. This wasn't happening…It couldn't be happening…

_He shouldn't even be here. Let alone exist. What's going on!_

"Hey, hold on." She said. "I'll fix you up; just don't die on me yet, man... Oh geez, what am I getting myself into?"

Tegan: what HAVE I gotten myself into?!

L&DH: Oh you'll see...

Tegan: I hate your cryptic stuff...

L&DH: Well that's it for now. Read and Review please!

Both: Thanks and BYE!


	2. New boss and New life

**L&DH: Hi everyone! Welcome to the next chapter of Heart and Soul! I'd like to thank everyone who read the first chapter, Gracias! Now Tegan, will you take it away?**

**Tegan: Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Disney, and anything else belong to their respective owners. Ocs in this story belong to LightandDarkHeart. Read and Review! Thanks and enjoy!**

Tegan leaned back on her heels and looked over her handywork. She didn't think she would be able to do much, but luckily Fate was smiling down on her.

Tegan was a little dubious about helping a bad guy, but seeing his condition brought out the good natured side of her. She couldn't just leave him out there like that… So she had brought Vanitas back to her place and did her best to patch him up. The majority of his wounds were just shallow cuts so they were easy to treat. The only problem concerning them was that they covered pretty much all of his upper body, leaving the shirt part of his bodysuit totally trashed. And the blood had dried in certain areas so she had to pry it off to treat him. She had bandaged up the cut on his forehead and wiped all the blood off, but now came the major problem.

While most of the cuts were small and relatively shallow, there was one on his stomach that made Tegan worry a little. Three large, jagged slashes crossed it, like he had been clawed by something huge. One might have suspected that he had gotten mauled by a bear or something…

She went to grab some antiseptic cream and some long cotton bandages from her medicine cabinet. While she grabbed them she thought about what could have possibly brought him back. She knew her Kingdom Hearts info pretty well so she knew that he should have been destroyed when he lost fighting his Light half, Ventus. After all, that was what had left Ven in a coma-like state for over ten years now.

"I'll have to ask him when he wakes up…" she mumbled.

_Provided he doesn't attack me, first._

She walked back into the living room where Vanitas lay sleeping on her couch. Settling her self beside him, Tegan grabbed a clean cloth and worked on cleaning the wound. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as she had thought, but it was still pretty serious. She had just started dabbing on the cream when he twitched and moaned.

Tegan tensed, not sure if he would attack her when he was fully conscious. Her hand was hovering just above the top-most slash when his eyes shot open. Tegan jumped a little when Vanitas looked at her. He looked at her with a blank, confused expression, before anger and fury sparked in his golden eyes.

With a yell, he leapt off the couch, summoned his Keyblade, and pinned Tegan to the floor. She let out a small yelp as the blade pressed against her throat.

"Alright," he hissed. "Who're you and where am I? What were you…! Ahg!" Vanitas felt a sharp pain spread across his stomach. He felt light-headed and weak all of a sudden, and collapsed on top of the girl he had pinned down. She let out a small gasp and gently turned him over so that he was lying on his back. That was when he noticed the claw marks on his stomach.

"Easy there, Hotshot." The girl said worriedly. "You're still hurt pretty bad…"

He looked at the girl and stared suspiciously at her.

She was really tall and had an athletic build, and she wore clothes that kind of made her look a little punkish. Her face, at the moment creased with worry, was dominated by a pair of big violet eyes and freckles that dusted under them and over her nose. She had lots of curly, red hair with side-swept bangs that were dyed black. He could see a faint scar on the side of her neck and her hands were smudged with blood. His, he assumed.

"Hey, I asked you a question. Who are you? Where am I?" he asked. His eyes narrowed while he regarded her with caution.

The girl looked up from the wound and smiled a little sheepishly. "O-Oh. You're at my place. The name's Tegan."

Tegan? Huh.

"Weird name…" he tilted his head to the side but looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Tegan snorted and looked at him with a funny glint in her eyes.

"Oh you think so?" She smirked. "Well, mine's not that bad. At least compared to yours…_Vanitas_." Tegan suppressed laughter when she saw his head snap towards her; Vanitas's eyes wide with shock.

"How do you know my name?!" he sputtered.

"Oh I know lot's of things…" She folded her hands and placed them under her chin, elbows resting on her crossed legs. "Like how you happen to be Ventus's Dark side, you control the Unversed, and you're Master Xehanort's apprentice. As to _how _I know, well I'm not so sure whether I want to tell you that. How do I know you're not gonna take that information and screw everyone over after all…" She fixed him a pointed stare.

Vanitas's eyes went wide as she rattled off all that information on him. How the hell could she know that?! But he had to admit she was right for not trusting him. If he were in her place he wouldn't even trust himself…

"Well I'm not exactly in any condition to do harm for one thing…" He looked down at his stomach. "But I promise I won't try anything. I'll be a good boy." He smirked at her.

Tegan stared at Vanitas. She looked him straight in the eye as if she was trying to tell if he was telling the truth or not. Honestly he felt a bit nervous having those big, violet eyes staring at him. He felt kind of twitchy with her watching him like that. Finally she blinked and sighed.

"Alright." She said. "You have a point there. Might as well finish getting you patched up, though. You wouldn't happen to have any potions on you, would you? Know any Cure spells?" She helped him lean up against the front of the couch.

Vanitas shook his head, to shocked to say anything. Was this girl crazy or something? She knew who he was, yet she was still going to treat his injuries.

They were both silent as Tegan patched him up. Vanitas winced a little when she daubed some sort of cream on the slashes, but he didn't complain. While she wrapped cloth bandages around his torso he decided to strike up a conversation.

"So…Do you always offer medical services to villains? Especially ones who hold weapons up to your neck prior?" Tegan let out a little snort of laughter.

"It does sound pretty crazy, huh? But hey; what was I supposed to do? You passed out right in front of me. So it's not like I'm gonna leave you for dead. I'm just not that kind of person…. There, all done." She tapped the last bandage down and smiled at him.

Vanitas looked down at his torso. The entire area was covered in bandages of all sizes and he did have quiet the collection of bruises. He had to admit Tegan did do a pretty good job though.

"Thanks…I'm… sorry I… jumped you." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He wasn't used to this. Not one bit.

Tegan saw him fidget and gave him a small smile. "No problem, Hotshot. But, um, do you mind me asking how this all happened? It's none of my business I suppose, but um…I must be crazy…Maybe I can help?"

Van looked down at his hands and debated whether he should tell her or not. Part of him said that she was right; it was none of her business. But something else told him he could trust this girl.

"Well…" he began. "I'm working for some sorcerer. I was sent out on a mission and got careless."

"A sorcerer?" Tegan asked. "You're not working for Xehanort? Or Xemnas? Or some other incarnation of that crazy old kook?"

Vanitas chuckled at her "crazy old kook' comment. "Nah…Well not anymore. I was found by that Xemnas guy a little after I came back, but I didn't like his style. Something seemed…off. So I left. I met the new boss and now I'm working with him…He's probably wondering where I am too. I was supposed to have completed my mission then come back. Said I had to meet some people at his place…"

Tegan looked at him and frowned. She was quiet during the tale, listening intently. She believed him too. That was something about Tegan; she always knew whether someone was lying or not. It was like she was a walking Lie-detector and she knew he was telling the truth.

"Hey, the sorcerer." She asked. "Is it Yen Sid?" She saw him nod ever so slightly. "Well that's good. I would hate to think you were still working for a creep like Xemnas, and definitely Xehanort for that matter. Okay." She got up and walked over to a bookshelf. "I owe you an explanation, Van." She grabbed some stuff off the shelf and sat back down next to him.

Tegan handed Vanitas some plastic cases of varying sizes. Each of them had pictures of people on them, mostly of a boy who looked like him. Only the hair was brown and instead of gold eyes they were blue. One of the cases, however, had three people he recognized. A boy with spiky blond hair, a brown haired young man, and a woman with blue hair. It was Ventus, Terra, and Aqua. Vanitas looked over at Tegan with a confused frown.

"It would seem that in this world," she explained. "We have knowledge of the other worlds thanks to different media outlets like books, movies, television, and videogames. One particular videogame series, called Kingdom Hearts, follows the adventures of the heroes chosen by the Keyblade. I'm a fan of the games; therefore I know what happened around ten years ago. I also know about the more current events, including what your old master is up to sadly. That's how I knew who you were. Make sense?"

Vanitas looked at her incredously. He thought it was crazy, but yes, he believed her. He literally held the proof in his hands after all. He looked over the game cases again. The boy who looked a lot like him, that must have been the boy Yen Sid called Sora…And the boy Xehanort had tried to make a vessel. Another game had a picture of a boy who looked exactly like Ventus, but wearing one of those black cloaks. He stared at it for another few seconds before shoving the games back in Tegan's hands.

"This is nuts…Dammit." He rubbed his temples in frustration as Tegan looked on.

"The feeling is mutual my friend." She said solemnly as she patted his back. That was when she just remembered something. Vanitas still didn't have a shirt on. And his clothes were pretty much trashed. Her face flooded red as she stuttered out,

"O-oh, h-hey. We'd b-better get you into some better c-clothes, you know? Come on, I think I have some old clothes belonging to my big brother that don't fit him anymore.." She rushed up so fast that she tripped into the coffee table. With a squeak, Tegan flipped over it like a character in a cartoon.

"Who put that there?!" she yelled. Vanitas looked on, staring, and started to laugh. He stood up and helped Tegan back on her feet. She looked at his shirtless torso and her face turned fifty shades of red.

"Like what ya see, Carrot Top?" He smirked. Tegan looked away as her face got unbelievably redder and started walking off in some direction mumbling something about clothes. Letting loose another laugh, he trailed after her.

He followed Tegan through a relatively large house. It was old and had a home-y feel to it, with every room painted a different color. The living room had been brick red, the kitchen and dining room was light yellow, and one of the rooms they passed was emerald green. They walked up to the attic where Tegan found what she had been looking for: card board box labled _Talis' old clothes_. She ripped open the tape sealing it and looked inside.

"Here we are. Well, you pick out what you like; I'll be right back. I need to go get some stuff I left in the woods when I found you. Be back in fifteen minutes." She waved and bounded down the steps. Vanitas waited until he saw her walk out of the house to go through the box.

From the looks of it, Talis and Tegan dressed the same. The clothes looked like a mix of punk and skater, but Vanitas found stuff that would work for him. He found a red, sleeveless turtle-neck and a black jacket that had a red zipper and X's on the hood. Along with a pair of black cargo pants that had silver patches on them, he grabbed a pair of black fingerless gloves with brass buckles on them, a red and black checkered belt, and a pair of chunky black, leather boots with red trim and laces. He put everything on and went down to wait for Tegan to come back.

But before he left the attic something caught his eye. Underneath an old dusty piece of tarp was a two-foot by three-foot canvas. On it was a picture someone had painted of a girl standing out in the rain in front of a grave. Behind it was a large oak tree and the girl was wearing black. The girl had long hair that was carrot-red and it was painted so you couldn't see the details of the face. She held her hands up in a sort of prayer and the whole scene looked terribly sad.

Vanitas looked it over and flipped it to the back where he could make out some faded words. He thought the title was "Left Behind" and he couldn't figure out the scrawled initials. If he had to guess it might have been Tegan who painted it. The girl looked pretty similar to her and he noticed a lot of paint supplies strewn around the house on the way up.

_It's good but really…dismal. I wonder what made her want to paint something like that. _Vanitas put the painting back where it was and made his way back down.

He took more time and out of curiosity started looking around. On some of the walls were pictures of wildlife and people. One that caught his eye was of a family of four. There was a man wearing glasses with a laughing smile on his face as he carried a small girl with red hair up in pigtails on his shoulders. Next to him stood a very beautiful woman with long strawberry blond hair and violet eyes. She had her arms around a young boy who looked just like the older man, right down to the glasses. He was smiling big and one of his front teeth was missing while he held up a wooden boat. It had a blue ribbon attached to the side of it.

"That must have been her family when she was younger." Vanitas mused. "They all look pretty happy." He felt a little twinge of jealousy.

When he was created, Master Xehanort never did anything but train him to become a wielder of the X-Blade. Vanitas never had the time to goof around or have fun, and his Master certainly never did anything with him. He only saw him as a tool, nothing else…

He kept on walking and looked at more pictures. A photo of Tegan as a little girl playing the guitar for a talent show. She and her brother throwing water balloons at each other. The two competing in an art show. Tegan next to her mother in a frilly pink dress looking really uncomfortable.

Then the pictures changed. Suddenly the parents stopped showing up in them and it was only Tegan and her brother. Then just Tegan. This really confused Vanitas. Did something happen? Was Tegan living all alone or something?

He pondered this while sitting in the living room. Out of boredom he picked up a magazine about something called "Greek mythology" and started reading. He was halfway into a story about some hero called Achilles and some stupid war about some girl when a noise from outside made his ears perk up. Outside the open window he could see Tegan walking down from a hill with a wagon trailing behind her. He could hear her singing to herself.

"I walk a lonely road  
The only one that I have ever known  
Don't know where it goes  
But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street  
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
When the city sleeps  
And I'm the only one and I walk alone"

Vanitas crept up closer to the window to hear better. Tegan had her eyes closed as she sung and swung her free arm around emphatically. He thought she was acting pretty weird but he liked the song.

"My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone up there will find me  
'til then I walk alone"

The song struck a cord with Vanitas. It seemed to fit him pretty well. For as long as he had known, he had always been on his own in one way or another. No one ever was close to him, not even Ventus who Vanitas was supposed to be a part of. It had only been him and his Unversed. He listened to Tegan as she got closer and her voice became clearer.

"I'm walking down the line  
That divides me somewhere in my mind  
On the border line  
Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines  
What's fucked up when everything's alright  
Check my vital signs  
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone"

Tegan approached the door and Vanitas sprinted back to the couch. He picked up his book so quickly and pretended to be reading without even noticing the thing was upside down.

"He-ey! I'm back!" Tegan called.

"In here!" Vanitas answered.

Tegan walked in and smiled when she saw Vanitas's new duds. Black and red did suit him pretty well.

"Nice clothes man. Those look killer on you, Van." She praised while she dragged the wagon inside. Stowing them in a small supplies closet, she went back into the living room and sat next to Vanitas. Noticing the book he was "reading" she burst into laughter.

Vanitas looked at her questioningly. "What?"

Still giggling, Tegan reached over and flipped the book right-side up. Vanitas looked down at it and frowned. Snapping the thing shut and standing up, he turned to face Tegan.

"How can you act so casually around me?!" he demanded. "For crying out loud, you know who I am, yet you don't act the slightest bit scared. I could attack you or remove your heart or something! Hell, I DID attack you earlier! How can you be so calm?!"

Tegan looked at him a little startled. She hadn't expected such an outburst. He did have a point. Vanitas was very dangerous in the games. Any normal person would be a little suspicious around someone like him. But not her. Tegan met his stare head on and sighed.

"If you were gonna pull something you would have done so by now. I believe what you said earlier about working for Yen Sid so I know I don't have to be scared. Earlier I could tell you were confused and disoriented. I would have attacked myself if I were in your shoes."

"Are you that naïve? What if I'm tricking you and this is all an act? Are you that crazy?" he continued. He saw Tegan's eyes spark with frustration and he hands clench.

Tegan took a deep breath. "Of course not. If you were lying I would have been able to tell. No one can tell a lie around me with out me noticing. I'm a walking, talking lie-detector. So if you had been lying and trying to trick me I would have knocked your butt out and gotten you as far away from me as possible. But you checked out all clear so I didn't. Lucky for you, I believe anyone has the capacity to change. Even villains. And I'm actually kind of glad you did…"

He stared at her with a slightly agape mouth. No one had ever said that to him. Not only did she trust him but she also was…Glad? Say what?

"Why, worried that if I was still my old self that I would go after you? That you wouldn't stand a chance if I did?" he hissed. Tegan looked at him with sad eyes. She dipped her head down and clasped a hand around her choker pendant.

"No, that's not it," she said. "I'm glad cause that puts you out of the danger zone. Vanitas, do you any idea what Xehanort would have done if you had succeeded in forging a perfect X-Blade? He either would have killed you and took it, or he would have taken over your body; like he did with Terra. You would have ceased to be you and would only be a puppet. Not even a villain deserves that…" She fixed Vanitas with a determined stare.

"You are you and no one else. Xehanort only saw you as a pawn in his crazy game. But you have your own heart, your own feelings. Xehanort used Terra and look what happened. He's a puppet, Aqua is stuck in the Realm of Darkness, and poor Ven is in a coma! You are still your own person, with a right to your own life. It would be terrible if you were turned into a freakish copy of that crazy old man!"

Vanitas stared at her uncomprehendingly. He never thought that he would hear those words come out of someone's mouth and be directed at him. Someone actually cared about what happened to him. And she was right, if he got a hold of the X-Blade Xehanort would have tried to take it from him. One way or another, Vanitas would no longer be him. He would be someone else…And that truly terrified him.

He sunk to his knees and stared blankly at the ground. Without even realizing it a tear had oozed its way out of his eye and down his cheek. That was another first. He had never cried before.

Tegan saw the emotions sweeping over the dark-haired boy's face and felt her heart ache in sympathy. Nothing could be worse than losing you. She had seen first hand what losing oneself does to a person…

And when she saw the tear that slid down his cheek she did the one thing her mother had taught her to do when someone was this down. She slid off the couch and slipped her arms around Vanitas, pressing her cheek against one of his shoulders.  
"It's alright. What matters is you aren't working for Xehanort anymore. He can't hurt you…I never thought of you as much of villain anyway, you know…Anyone who is connected to a goof like Ventus can't be all bad."

She pulled back and gave him a small smile. Vanitas looked up at her weakly. This girl was full of surprises. She was willing to trust him regardless of what he did in the past and still treat him with such kindness. He knew that there must be a lot of light in this girl for her to be such a kind person. He leaned his head against her shoulder feeling very tired all of a sudden.

"…Thanks Tegan." He said before falling off to sleep.

"Of course."

**L&DH: Well that's all folks! Thanks for tuning in to the next chapter!**

**Tegan: If you have any writers advice or anything we'd love to hear it. anything is appreciated to help make the story the best it can be.  
**

**Both: Thanks! Bye!  
**


	3. What is this Madness?

**L&DH: Welcome to the next chapter! thanks everyone who read and left reveiws for the last one, you all are darlings!**

**Tegan: L&DH doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and Disney. but she does own OCs and this story.**

**L&DH: and cookies. don't forget that!**

**Tegan: *sigh***

* * *

Tegan tucked a blanket around Vanitas, now lying fast asleep on her couch. The poor guy had had it rough.

_And this is why people shouldn't go on missions alone. No one is there to keep an eye on you and god-knows-what happens._

That thought replayed through her head. Did Vanitas go through all this crazy stuff alone? The whole Unversed thing didn't count, but did he work together with people? Thinking back on it, Vanitas was pretty touchy about trust. When she had said that she trusted him he looked like it had never happened to him before.

He needed help…

That idea registered in her head. What if she helped him? Tegan knew everything there was about the Kingdom Hearts games so she knew stuff that would help everyone.

_It's perfect! Vanitas said that he was supposed to meet Yen Sid soon. I can go with him and tell them what I know. I can tell them about Aqua, Ven, and Terra…I could help them for sure! _

"That settles it," she said. "When Van wakes up, I'll tell him my idea. There's no way he would say 'no'."

…..

"No."

"But why?! I could help you guys! I know stuff that will help you…"

"No way. It's too dangerous."

Vanitas had woken up later and Tegan decided to pitch her idea. Tegan was so wrapped up in the idea of helping out that when Vanitas said no she nearly blew a gasket. She was protesting vehemently.

Vanitas on the hand was adamant against the whole thing. He didn't want to have to look after her. And he certainly didn't want her getting herself into trouble for him to bail her out of. Knowing the kind of things she did would make her an huge target for Xehanort. If he got his hands on Tegan there was no way she would be able to keep stuff from him. The old man would find out and it wouldn't be pretty for her.

"I can take care of myself!" Tegan protested. "I'm a black belt in martial arts, I know how to handle most kinds of weapons, and don't get me started on running. I'm telling you Vanitas, you guys need me! I'm the Ace up your sleeve!"

"No, Tegan. I can't let you. Believe me, no matter how well you can fight, if you end up against Xehanort or Isa or any of those guys you'd be toast! They'd rip you to pieces or rip your heart out!"

Tegan backed off. He seemed to have a point there. But she really wanted to help. That's when an idea struck her.

"How about this then," she compromised. "You take me to Yen Sid's. I tell you guys what you need to know, then I can see if I can stay with Yen Sid if anything turns up. If he let's me, then we both get what we want. I get to help you all, and I'm still safe. Not even that geezer is crazy enough to take on a powerfull sorcerer like Yen Sid. I'll be safe there. Please, Vanitas." She held her hands up and pleaded, breaking out the puppy-dog eyes. "I want to help."

Vanitas' eye twitched as he stared at her then sighed. He held his hands up in defeat.

"Fine, you win. I can't argue that the boss man is pretty tough. You should be safe there…"

Tegan jumped up and squealed. She jumped up and caught Vanitas in a huge hug and thanked him repeatedly.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Oh I'll go pack now!" She flew off and rushed to get some stuff. Vanitas followed her as she ran about the house, throwing things into a backpack.

"Okay! Sketchbook, pencils, notebook, Swiss Army knife, first aid kit…" she mumbled as stuff went into the bag. He saw her toss a strange-looking device into it as well but didn't ask what it was. It looked a little like a remote, but with only a few buttons and two little metal prongs at the end.

"Alright! I'm ready!" she cried. The two walked out of the house and Tegan looked to Vanitas.

"Hey, Van."

He looked at her. "Yeah?"

"What kind of mission were you on that led you here in the first place?" she asked.

"Yen Sid told me to look for something, that's all. Now then, let's get this show on the road."

He summoned Void Gear, created a portal, and flipped it into the air. When it came back down it had turned into a Glider that looked a little like Ven's. It was a hover board-type, but it had chains printed on the deck and two giant gears floating on each side of it.

"Co-ol!" Tegan breathed. It had always been one of her dreams to ride a hover board, and now she finally got to! She was so excited!

Vanitas chuckled as he saw Tegan bouncing on her heels, like a little kid. He pulled her towards the Glider and got up. Reaching a hand down, he pulled Tegan up behind him and helped her steady herself.

"Okay what you want to do is bend you knees and lean into the turns, just like a skateboard. Hold onto me if you feel a little unsteady." He instructed. Tegan nodded.

"Right, let's go then." Vanitas willed his Glider up. It caused Tegan to stumble a bit but she quickly steadied herself in no time.

"Watch it! Trust me, you don't want to fall off of one of these things." He warned. Tegan just laughed as she saw the tree fly past them. Soon they entered the portal and were in the Lanes Between.

"Woah…" Tegan breathed. She had never seen something so amzing before. "My wildest dreams really are coming true." She tightened her arms around Vanitas's waist as she gazed at the open space. She pent a few minutes more looking when a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, how are we able to breathe out here? And you don't have any armor, Van."

Vanitas looked on. "Never needed it, a guy I know charmed my Glider to create some barrier around it whenever I use it out here. We're perfectly safe…Um, Tegan? I've got a question for you." He turned his head slightly and looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Go ahead, shoot." Tegan said.

"Do you live alone or something? Back there I saw a lot of pictures but it looked like you live all alone…" He stopped when he saw her frown and lower her head. "O-oh, um…Not that it's any of my business or anything…You know what, forget I said anything."

Tegan looked off to the side. "No. It's alright. My parents died when I was young, leaving me and my brother Talis all alone. Tal raised me after that and we lived in the house. The reason I'm all alone is…Well Talis disappeared…" She said quietly. It was still a little bit of a sore subject for her.

"One day he was there, and then the next morning he was gone. No note, all his things were still there. No one could ever find out what happened…"

It was a terrible experience for her. She looked up to her older brother so much. After their parents died Talis had been her father, brother, and best friend. He was always kind to everyone and supported her no matter what. So it cut her deep the morning she found out he had just vanished out of thin air without any clue to when and if he would be coming back.

After that she had to learn to take care of herself at the age of fourteen. She got a part-time job to pay for food and things. She even had to deal with the snobs in town who thought her brother just ditched her because he didn't want to handle the responsibility of raising a younger sister. When Tegan had found out about those rumors she decided to cut off ties with the town that had supported them through their parents' death, and then turned their backs on her when she needed them the most.

Vanitas said nothing. That explained the painting in the attic. She had painted it and money said that the title was "All Alone". That's what Tegan was after all…All alone with no one but herself. There was something he knew well.

They traveled the rest of the way silently, neither of them talking and not a sound made but the Glider moving through the Lanes.

Finally they made it to a place Tegan knew all too well. A small chunk of land with a set of train tracks floating beside it. On the land was a tall stone tower that she knew was home to a very powerful and wise sorcerer. They had arrived at The Mysterious Tower.

"Okay, here we are. I'm gonna land so get ready." Vanitas said as he maneuvered his transportation onto the ground. It landed with a slight thunk and Tegan hopped off. Vanitas followed and the Glider reverted back to its original form. Tegan walked up to the tower and stared. It was huge!

"Wow, it looks bigger in real life. This is awesome!" she squealed. She really was living every Kingdom Hearts fan's dream. She was helping fight against Xehanort, even if it was contributing some information. She started to turn.

"Hey, Van. Is Yen Sid really…Woah!" she yelled.

Vanitas slammed into Tegan, knocking her down and out of the way as something smashed into the spot she was just standing in. She saw stars for a few seconds before her sight cleared and she froze. Was she really seeing what she thought she was seeing?

"Not you again! Get lost!" Vanitas shouted as he tried to push something off with Void Gear. It was a hulking blue shape with red eyes and a funny mark on it. It was…

_What the?! Why is he fighting off a BRUISER UNVERSED!_ She thought with panic. Soon they were surrounded by Unversed, from Floods and Scrappers to Bruisers and a few Archravens. She backed up until her back was pressed against the trunk of a tree. A few of the Floods and Scrappers surrounded her, cutting her off from Vanitas.

"V-Van! Help!" she cried.

Vanitas looked over and saw her surrounded and panicked. He slashed through the Bruiser and rushed to help Tegan. _Why now? Why the hell now?_ He thought.

Slashing through the Unversed he stood protectively in front of Tegan, holding Void Gear up menacingly.

"Vanitas, what's going on?!" Tegan asked. Why were the Unversed attacking her and Vanitas. The Unversed _were_ Vanitas! Why would they attack the person they came from?!

"No time to explain. Tegan, run!" Vanitas ordered. He cut another hole through his Unversed and pushed Tegan through. She stood there for a few seconds, staring dumbly at the scene before her.

"Tegan, RUN!" Vanitas shouted as her fought off one of the Archravens.

Vanitas was so focused on the Archraven that he didn't notice the Scrapper and Bruiser sneaking up on him. But someone else did…

"VANITAS LOOK OUT!" Tegan screamed.

He turned but it was too late. The Scrapper slashed at his stomach and reopened his wounds. Vanitas fell to his knees and clutched his stomach, leaving him wide open. The Bruiser took the chance and smashed a deadly punch to his side. Vanitas howled in pain before smashing into the trunk of a tree. He landed lifeless on the ground with a thud.

Tegan watched in horror as the other Unversed circled around him. She ran over, somersaulting over a couple of Floods and standing protectively in front of him

"Back off you freaks! What the hell is wrong with you Unversed anyway?" Tegan held a defensive pose and a Flood jumped at her. Putting all she had into it, Tegan smashed her fist into it with enough strength to rival Tifa Lockhart. The pitiful creature sailed into a Bruiser and knocked it over. This only made the others mad, because they all flew at Tegan. Knowing she was out numbered with no chance, Tegan did the only thing she could. She threw herself over Vanitas and used herself to shield her friend.

The Unversed piled on top of them and Tegan could feel the weight pressing down on her. One of the Floods got really close to her and tried to slash at her face. A quick turn of the head stopped it but its claws snatched off her choker instead. That's when something miraculous happened. There was a loud popping noise and Tegan was engulfed in a blast of light.

Next thing she knew, Tegan was floating in a completely different place. All around her was nothing but Darkness.

"Wha-what?! Where am I? Van! Vanitas, where are you?" Tegan called out.

"Relax. You'll be okay. Look down here."

Tegan followed the voice and looked below her. As she did, she descended upon a large stained glass structure. It was made of silver colored glass with a large picture of herself on it, followed by smaller pictures of other people.

"Wow, I must be inside my Station of Awakening…Let's see here. That's Vanitas, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Lea, Xion, Ven, Terra, and Aqua. But who are they?" She looked down at two pictures, side by side, of a boy with purple hair and a girl with white hair. She didn't know them…

"You'll meet them later. But right now can we talk?" a voice behind Tegan perked up. Turning, she saw a pair of figures. A girl with short black hair, blue eyes, and wearing a black coat smiled at Tegan. Next to her stood a boy with spiky blonde hair and blue eyes wearing strange clothing and a piece of armor on his arm.

"XION? VENTUS?"

Xion smiled bigger. "Yep. Nice to see someone who actually knows my name. It's nice to meet you, Tegan."

"Yeah, but what are you two doing here?!" Tegan exclaimed.

"This place exists differently from the real world." Ventus answered. "All hearts are connected. And you will play a big role in what is going on, Tegan. Our hearts might be somewhere else, but our souls are like our hearts, so they're connected. We can be here cause you need help…You do need help, right?"

Tegan stuttered and nodded. "Y-yes. I need to stop the Unversed! I-I mean I don't even know why they attacked Vanitas in the first place but…Wait. How can you two help? Not to be rude or anything but Xion, you're completely gone. And Ventus, you're kind of in a situation yourself…"

The two looked at each other before laughing.

"That true. We don't have physical forms that would be any use right now but…" Xion started.

"We can help you unlock some of your own power, Tegan." Ventus finished.

Tegan stared at them. She had power of her own? How was that possible?

"U-um…okay. How?"

Ventus walked up to her and held up his hand. Dangling from it was a Wayfinder made of silver glass and black iron. In the center was a charm that looked just like her choker pendant. He put the charm in her hand.

"We don't have a Keyblade for you," he explained. "But this will help you summon the weapon you really need. This should also be able to help you find my friends…I hope they're okay…"

Tegan placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ven. I'll help save Aqua and Terra, then we'll all come and get you. Besides," she said with a wink. "I know where you hid your heart."

Ven chuckled. "Thanks."

He stepped back and Xion moved forward. She put her hand on Tegan's Wayfinder and it glowed a little. When she moved her hand the glow shot up and formed a huge axe-like weapon with many blades on it. It was pretty big, but also very light-weight and delicate, with and intricate pattern drawn into the main axe-blade. Tegan gripped the shaft and twirled the weapon in her hands.

"That's your new weapon." Xion said. "Think you can handle a Halberd?"

Tegan swung it over her shoulder and grinned cockily. "No sweat! Thanks so much you two! This is awesome. Now then…How do I get outta here?"

Ventus laughed. "Just imagine yourself back where you were. This is your heart. If you want to go back, all you have to do is think it."

Tegan hugged the both of them. "Thanks guys. Ven, I'll be there soon to wake you up. Xion…I'll find some way to get the others to remember you. I promise I will help you both."

The two smiled and waved good-bye. Then they vanished, leaving Tegan all alone with her new toys. She looked again at the mosaic that was her heart.

"As nice as this is, I think it's time to go kick some butt…."

The light faded and revealed Tegan standing there, Halberd in hand and scowling. Swinging in a wide arc above her head, she took out the unfortunate Bruiser that was the first to rush at her. The Unversed shuddered then vanished into nothingness.

"Alright, which one of you is next?"

The Unversed rushed at her in one wave and Tegan sliced through them. Using the weapon as a pole, she swung around the shaft and kicked a Bruiser into a group of the smaller foes. Then using the momentum she leapt forward and slashed at a group of Archravens.

_These things are getting really annoying! For the love of Mike, I have to help Vanitas!_

Something grew bright from inside Tegan's pocket. She reached in and pulled out her Wayfinder, now pulsing with silver energy. She held it close and felt the surges of power surround her like a raging whirlwind. In fact it was almost like a miniature whirlwind as the energy whipped around Tegan. She saw her clothes, already slightly damaged from fighting now start to rip and shred.

"Aw man! Now I'm gonna have to get new ones…" she muttered. But the energy whipping around her gave her an idea. Tegan focused on centering the powerful surges into her weapon. Raising it behind her and crouching down low the energy formed a massive blade that crackled with power. Tegan surveyed the Unversed around her.

_Okay, I've got one shot at this. Gotta make sure I do it right._

"You guys messed with the wrong girl…HEAD HUNTER!" she cried. Tegan swung the halberd around, releasing the energy in one wide, shock wave-inducing arc that slashed through all of the Unversed. They all vanished in puffs of smoke-like darkness. Tegan dropped to her knees.

"Well…" she panted. "It wasn't any Witch Hunter, but it certainly did the trick…"

She leaned on her weapon and clutched her silver Wayfinder to her heart.

_Thanks Ven…Xion. I won't let you two down…_

"Te…gan?"

She whipped her head around and saw Vanitas staring weakly at her. Stumbling over, Tegan dropped to her knees and smiled at her friend.

"Hey, Van… You okay?"

He smirked. "I can take more than that…But the Unversed. Tegan, what did you do?" He marveled at the enemy-free environment.

Tegan held up her halberd and Wayfinder. "I got a little help from some friends. It was a walk in the park…AH!"

Tegan dropped both items and clutched at her chest as she flopped to the ground next to Vanitas. White-hot pain assaulted her as she started to cry out in agony.

"Tegan?!" Vanitas exclaimed. "What's wrong with you? Tegan!"

Tegan couldn't hear him so well. Right now it felt like thousands of burning needles were piercing the skin above her heart, and right now it was utter agony.

Vanitas saw her clutch where her heart would be and moved her hands as quick as he could. Underneath the shredded collar of her shirt he could see the skin red and bleeding a little. What shocked him the most was that a strange mark was etching itself into her skin, like a tattoo. An open heart with a swirl in the center and a set of wings around it imprinted over Tegan's heart while she screamed in pain.

"Vanitas!" a voice called out. He looked over and saw a group of teens land near them and rush to their side.

The last thing Tegan saw were two faces, one was Vanitas's and the other a mystery boy looking at her with panicked expressions. Then she lost consciousness.

* * *

**L&DH: Jiminy! crazyness is on the way!**

**Tegan: WTF! What's with the Unversed?!  
**

**L&DH: that's my secret, to be revealed in the proper time and place...Na-na-na-na-na!  
**

**Tegan: *sigh* at least i get a wicked weapon.  
**

**L&DH: i know right? anyway, read and review! gracias!  
**


	4. Attention, Anima Wanted: Accquire Within

**L&DH: welcome to the next chapter of Heart and Soul! Tegan, if you will...**

**Tegan: We don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or any Disney. L&DH only owns the story and the OCs.**

_**Both:**_**ENJOY!**

* * *

_Tegan stood in front of a large doorway. The door and hall it was in were both a blinding shade of white and the only difference in color was a huge set of gold chains sealing the door shut. Tegan walked up to them and tugged on the chains experimentally. They rattled a bit but didn't give._

"_Where am I? And what's up with the door?"_

"_Oh mighty Seer of Souls," a voice called out. "Thou art one of the last of a powerfull race yet ye have no idea of thy true power…"_

"_My true power?" Tegan asked. "What power?"_

_ The doors started to glow and a strange lock appeared over the chains. Three stars and a strange heart symbol adorned it and the voice called out again._

"_If you posses the Keys, the true treasure that lies within the chamber shall be yours. Are you ready to claim it?"_

_ Tegan put a hand on the lock. She could sense power radiating from it and something else. What could it be? Tegan felt a strange sense of foreboding coming from it too. Almost like something in there was telling her to stay out._

"_Well, I'm not interested in treasure. Go ahead and keep it." She muttered._

"_Oh really…Are you sure about that Teg?" _

_ Tegan gasped as she recognized the new voice. Whirling around she saw a sight that made her heart stop. Standing in front of her was a young man older than her with copper-colored hair that was bundled in a loose ponytail. His gray eyes were hidden behind thick bottle glasses and he wore blue and black skater clothes. Tegan felt her eyes water up at the familiar smile on the man's face._

"_T…Talis?" she stuttered. The man nodded and stood beside her. He stared intently at the lock while he talked to Tegan._

"_Strange things are coming, Sis. You have to make sure you are prepared for the storm that's coming…There's a lot that you'll have to go through…Can I trust you handle it?"_

_ Tegan blinked back tears and nodded._

"_Of course! Come on Tal, you know me. I can handle myself…" She frowned._

_ Talis looked at her curiously. "What's wrong?"_

_ Tegan looked down at the ground grimly._

"_Tal…I know this is dream and all, so there's no way I could really be talking to the real you…" She looked up and stared her older brother in the eye. "But, it's just I've missed you big bro. I wanted you to know that…"_

_ Talis looked at her and smiled. With a chuckle, he ruffled his little sister's head and gave her shoulder a little squeeze._

"_I know…I miss you too, Teg. Just remember…No matter what, your big bro will always be there to protect you…"_

_ Talis and the hallway vanished. Soon Tegan was standing in nothingness, with only the mysterious door keeping her company._

"When do you think she's gonna wake up?"

"I don't know…She's been out for a while now…"

Tegan slowly opened her eyes. She had no idea where she was. From the looks of it she must have been on a bed because she could feel a blanket on top of her. Tilting her head Tegan looked over and saw two figures leaning against a wall talking to each other. One looked her way and his eyes widened.

"Hey look! Sleepin' Beauty's up. What's up doll?"

Tegan's eyes adjusted as she looked at the boy. He seemed about her age, maybe a year older, wearing a red sweatshirt that had a moon stitched on one side along with a star-shaped zipper-pull. His pants were blue with these really strange, overalls-looking things with moons stitched into them and held up by an equally strange assortment of belts, buckles, and side bags. His hair was pretty long for a guy and hung in a braid from the back. Oh, and it was purple. Or at least _dyed_ purple, because Tegan could see black roots. His blue-black eyes lit up with boyish amusement and his face was plastered with a big, goofy, grin.

Tegan shifted up, but moved back down when she was hit by a wave of nausea.

"Oh man…" she moaned. "It feels like someone went tap dancing on my head…"

The boy laughed and sat on a stool next to her bed. "I'm not surprised. You went a little over board there with that crazy attack of yours. Hey Lea," He turned to the other person leaning on the wall. "You got a potion or something?"

Tegan looked over when the boy called out that name. The person leaning on the wall had to be older than both of them and he looked startlingly familiar. His eyes were green and his hair was blazing red like Tegan's, but all spiky so it looked like fire. He was pretty tall and wore a white T-shirt with red around the collar, an orange vest, a yellow and black plaid bandana around his neck, and a pair of red and orange checkered cuffs. His pants were kind of baggy and light brown, with lots of pockets and he wore greenish-brown sneakers. Despite the radical outfit change, Tegan still recognized him easily.

"Oh my god…Lea?!" she shouted, causing both guys to jump.

Lea stared at her. "Um, yes?...Do I know you?"

Tegan blinked then smacked her forehead. Well, duh! She was now in the world of Kingdom Hearts, why wouldn't Lea or some other character be there…

"No, sorry. I've just heard of you, that's all…." She turned her head and looked at the other boy. "And you are?"

The purple haired boy smirked arrogantly and put his hands on his hips. "Excellent question, Doll Face. The name's Salem Kurokami and I'm Yen Sid's apprentice. I'm also single, you know." He winked at her. Lea sighed and walked up behind Salem and whacked him upside the head.

"The kid just woke up, you freak…Stop flirting with every girl you meet, got it memorized?" He turned to Tegan and tossed her a small bottle. "Here. Drink that then come with us. There's a lot to talk about."

Tegan nodded and looked at the bottle. It was made of blue glass with stars and moons printed on it. She shrugged and popped the top off and took a swig. It tasted kind of like lemon-lime soda to her. Weird…

"So…What happened?" she asked after taking a few sips. Salem looked at Lea who shrugged.

"Well Lea and I, pus some friends, came here and found you and Van on the ground. Van was all beat up and you were screaming your head off." Salem stuffed his hands in his sweatshirt and shrugged nonchalantly. "So we brought you both up and the Master worked on fixing you up while I worked on Van. And that is the extent of my knowledge cause Vani-boy won't tell anyone what's going on til you wake up. Now that you're up, we can get our answers. Come on." He motioned to a door that was on the other side of the room.

Tegan flung the blanket off and set her feet on the floor. Easing her way up she tested whether she could actually stay up or not. Luckily for her she was fine from drinking that potion.

"Lead on, Witch-man. Oh, and my name's Tegan McAllister and I'm not interested…" She said, earning a snort of laughter from Lea and some muttering on Salem's part. The three walked out of the room and up a flight of stairs. At the top was a large door that Salem knocked on.

"Come in." a deep voice said.

Upon entering Tegan saw an old man wearing blue robes with a long beard sitting at a desk. Surrounding him were three other teens. One with spiky brown hair, one with short silver, and a girl with hair a deeper red than Tegan's. She recognized them right away as Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

"About time you got up…" a familiar voice spoke out. She turned her head to see Vanitas leaning against the wall next to a large bookcase. She smiled.

"Hey Van. You okay?" she asked. Vanitas huffed and walked over to her.

"Of course I'm okay, what did you expect?" he frowned. "You look like a mess…" Tegan looked down and saw he was right.

Her arms were wrapped up in bandages and her clothes were definitely ruined. Luckily her chocker was back on and she still had her locket and Wayfinder.

Salem snorted in disgust. "Subtle as a jack-hammer as always…Seriously, that's no way to talk to a lady, Vani-boy. She looks radiant…" he swung his arm around Tegan's shoulders and smiled charmingly at her. Tegan flicked him in the nose.

"Salem, enough flirting." Yen Sid commanded. Salem stiffened and removed his arm, bowing respectfully to his master.

"Yes of course. Forgive me, sir."

Yen Sid looked at Tegan and motioned her forward. "So you are awake and moving, Tegan. That is good. Perhaps now we can find out what was going on. I assume you have already met Vanitas and Lea, and my apprentice Salem. These are…" he began.

"She already knows who they are, boss." Vanitas interrupted. "She knows _everything_…"

"What do you mean everything?" Riku asked bluntly. He and Kairi looked at Tegan with interest.

Tegan shifted uncomfortably. "Well this is kind of a long story…" She proceeded to explain about the video games and how she knew about everyone. Her audience listened with interest, periodically asking questions and asking for clarification.

"…And finally I was out walking earlier and found Vanitas, wounded, on my property. So I brought him back and fixed him up."

"You brought him into your house knowing who he was?!" Sora exclaimed. He was pretty shocked about the whole thing, mostly the part that Tegan knew who they were because of a video game.

"He was wounded. What else could she do, Sora?" Lea defended.

"Oh right…Sorry." He smiled sheepishly. Tegan nodded and continued.

"Well let's see, after that we talked some and came here. I wanted to give you guys some information you might need, but when we landed we were attacked by…the Unversed." She stared over at Vanitas, who was frowning at the ground with clenched fists. "Van…Why did the Unversed attack us. More importantly, why did they attack _you_?"

Kairi looked at Tegan questioningly. "What do you mean? You make it sound like he controls those things or something."

"Bingo, Kairi!" Salem exclaimed. "Vani-boy used to control the Un-" He was cut off by Vanitas shoving the hood of his sweatshirt over his head.

"Shut up now Salem…"

Tegan looked at the two. Used to? What did that mean?

"What are you talking about? Van, what does he mean by 'used to'" she asked. He glared at Salem and stared at the ground again.

"Nothing. Salem's an idiot who like to run off his mouth…" he grumbled. Tegan felt like something was buzzing the back of her head. Vanitas was lying.

"Vanitas." She said sharply, causing him to flinch. "I know you're lying. Now what happened? The Unversed are a part of you; they shouldn't have attacked you like that. Now what happened?"

When he didn't say anything Tegan huffed. "Fine, don't tell me. I only saved your life is all. I guess it isn't my business…" She frowned and turned away from him. Yen Sid looked on and sighed.

"You must not think badly of Vanitas, Tegan." He mediated. "What he went through before he came to us was very troubling. It is understandable if he does not wish to talk about it. But likewise Vanitas, if we are to combat the growing forces of Darkness we must know the whole tale…"

Sora looked between Tegan and Vanitas. The two looked mad and both hurt a little.

"You know, I'm still not totally sure what's going on…" he said. "But if it bothers you, Vanitas, why don't you talk about it later when you're ready to talk. In the meantime, Tegan you said you had information that would help us?"

Tegan's frown vanished when she remembered why she came here in the first place. Sure she was a little ticked that Vanitas wouldn't answer her questions, but she would have to move that back for now.

"That's right! I have some locations that you guys might need. And some important places you might want to stop and check out. But first, Master Yen Sid." She addressed the sorcerer. "Do you know the current locations of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus?"

Yen Sid stroked his beard in thought. "I know that Ventus had lost his heart, and that Master Aqua had disappeared after finding some place to hide him. As of Terra, I am shamed to say I know not of where he might be. Do you, Tegan, mean to say you know these answers?"

Tegan nodded solemnly. "Yes. Master Aqua is now trapped in the Realm of Darkness. She tried to rescue Terra and was trapped there after a fight in Radiant Garden. Terra's gone AWOL thanks to Xehanort making him a vessel…I know the general place where Ven's body is hidden and where his heart lay sleeping. Aqua hid his body somewhere in Castle Oblivion…"

"What?" Lea interrupted. "I spent tons of time in that crazy old castle and I never saw anyone but us Organization there…"

"That's because he was hidden in a secret room called the Chamber of Waking. I don't know where it is though, so we might need Aqua for that…"

"What about Ven's heart?" Riku asked.

"Actually, Riku, you already know where it is." Tegan grinned. When the silver-haired boy looked at her strangely she elaborated. "During your Mark of Mastery Exam, you went inside Sora's heart to fix it, right? And while you were in it you saw some people inside. Who did you see?"

Riku put a hand up to his chin while he listed off the answer. "There was Ansem the Wise…And Roxas. Plus a black-haired girl and a boy who looked just like Roxas…What are you getting at?"

Tegan smirked and Vanitas chuckled.

"I think I know where this is going." Vanitas smiled mischievously. "Scratch the old man, the girl, and Roxas. The boy who looks just like him is…"

"Ventus." He and Tegan finished at the same time. Realization dawned on everyone as Sora gripped his crown charm.

"Ventus' heart…Is inside me?"

"It would seem so, Mr. Hero." Vanitas said. "I don't see why he his himself inside you though…" He looked over at the boy who held Ven's heart. From what he had seen on those game covers, plus the fact that he and Sora look too much alike and Ven's mirror image in Roxas it really wasn't that far-fetched of an idea…

"Ven and Sora go way back." Tegan answered. "When you were first created from his darkness, Van, surely you remember how it damaged Ven's heart, right? Well Sora's heart helped repair it by lending a piece of his own Light. I suppose that's why Ven hid himself inside Sora after your fight…" But that might not be the only thing it explained…

"Son of a gun!" Tegan shouted. Vanitas jumped while Salem and Lea rubbed their ears from being so close. Everyone looked at the girl with interest.

"What is it, Tegan?" Kairi asked.

"I think I have the answer to something I've been wondering! Van, about how many years has it been since you came back?"

"Um…Around three, maybe four years I think. Why?" Tegan gasped a little and latched on to his shoulder.

"Because I would say that around that time, someone in this very room had been turned into a Heartless. Anyone in the class have an idea who that was?" All eyes turned to Sora, who looked on in confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"'What', Sora, is that when you turned into a Heartless, that created three things. Your own Heartless, Roxas, and then Namine, right? Well if Ven's heart hid itself inside yours that would mean that Vanitas, as Ven's dark half, would have been there too! So if a Heartless and the Nobodies of two different people were created who's to say that Van wasn't released when it happened too?" She threw her arms up to emphasize her point. Yen Sid nodded.

"It does make sense…If the darkness inside Sora's heart was able to create a Nobody for a Princess of Heart, it stands to say that it could have easily released foreign darkness within as well…Alas, we cannot indulge in this subject any further at the moment. Vanitas," he addressed the black haired boy. "We must address the matter of the mission I sent you on. It must wait no more."

"Hey that's right!" Tegan exclaimed. 'What was that anyway? I can't imagine what he would need to find on my world…"

"You mean besides people who already know about us over there?" Sora joked. Tegan's eye twitched.

"Okay, touché but not what I meant. I had to explain this to all of you, so I doubt that was the mission…Anyway, Master Yen Sid. What did you send Van to find?" All eyes turned to the old sorcerer. He stroked his beard for a moment before answering. But before he even said a word, he pointed a long finger towards Tegan.

"You." One simple word was all it took to completely confuse everyone in the room.

"WHAAAAAAT?"

Tegan pointed a finger at herself. "Me?"

Yen Sid nodded. Getting up, he walked over and stood in front of the confused girl. With a single gesture, the bandage over her collarbone vanished, revealing the strange mark that had shown up on Tegan. Now that it was clear of blood, it looked a lot like a tattoo. Blue ink formed a symbol similar to the Kingdom Hearts insignia, but there was a swirl inside and long markings on the outside that looked like feathers. The feathers flanked each side and formed a set of wings. Salem took one look at it and gasped.

"N-No way…" he stuttered. Yen Sid nodded once more before speaking again.

"I had sent Vanitas on a mission that was to address a new crisis facing the worlds… His job was to find a special being called an 'Anima' and bring it here…Now I know that he really had no idea what to expect, but he finished the mission nonetheless…Tegan, you are the Anima we have great need for…"

Tegan let that all sink in. Her…An ANIMA?! What in the heck was that? And how could she help the worlds?

Vanitas looked at Tegan with a mix of annoyance and mild disappointment. He couldn't believe that SHE of all people was the target of his mission. But since she was, that meant she was getting dragged into this mess no matter what. There was no way that he could just bring her home now.

Yen Sid sensed the confusion among the group and explained further.

"As you all know, Xehanort's goal has been to seize Kingdom Hearts for his own. In one form, he and the witch Maleficent used the Heartless to plague the worlds and steal their hearts. The new problem now is somewhat similar to that. You see, Xehanort has found a way to seal the Souls of the worlds too. And with that…" He was cut off by Sora.

"Wait I don't get it." He exclaimed. "What is the Soul of a world?"

"The Soul," Yen Sid answered. "Is another aspect of a World's Heart. They also are what form a World's Keyhole, providing a means of protection for that world.

"Now, Xehanort has found a way to chain these Souls, leaving the Hearts absolutely defenseless…Long ago the worlds were not just protected by Keyblade wielders but also by special beings called the Anima. While those chosen by the Keyblade protected the Hearts of the worlds, the Anima fought alongside to protect the Souls as well.

"The Anima posses unique abilities that allow them to interact with souls of most any kind. Whether it be seeing into a soul to see it's truths or chaining and unchaining souls." He let that information sink in.

Tegan's mind whirled. She was something called an Anima, and it was her duty to protect the Souls of the Worlds?

"So what you saying," Lea said. "Is that Xehanort has managed to gain Anima abilities and is using them to chain souls in order to attack the worlds. And in order to stop them, you need another Anima i.e. Tegan, right?" Yen Sid nodded. Lea grinned and clapped Tegan on the back.

"Well it's a good thing Vanitas ran into you then! Wouldn't you agree, Salem old pal…?" Salem had been staring at Tegan unbelievingly. It was like he had seen a ghost and it was really starting to freak her out…

"What?" she asked. He blinked and shook his head. Putting his hands in his pockets and slumping, he grinned sheepishly at her.

"Oh well…Nothing. Forget about it, I'll tell you some other time…"

Leaving it at that, Tegan summoned her halberd and looked at it seriously.

"So I need to free Souls…" she thought out loud. "As my responsibility as an Anima it is my duty to free the Keyholes…" She took a deep breath and looked up at Yen Sid.

"Okay. Let's get rolling then…"

* * *

**L&DH: Okay, so now we have the introduction of Salem, the next OC. Welcome, Salem.**

**Salem: Thanks. Glad to be here, it took long enough afterall. I was wondering when you would get to me.  
**

**Tegan: Blame the Holidays. things get nuts...  
**

**L&DH: True, true...Anyway, thanks to everyone reading, it is always appreciated! Read and Review!  
**

**Everyone: LATER!  
**


	5. Letting out Steam

**L&DH: Welcome one and all! thank you for tuning in with the next chapter! guys?**

**Tegan: We don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Disney, or Monty Python  
**

**Salem: L&DH owns us though. and i own this piece of cake! *holds up cake*  
**

**Tegan: Not for long! *bum rushes and steals*  
**

**L&DH: *sighs* me and my brain...Anyway! R&R!**

* * *

"That's it Tegan! Keep going!" Salem cheered.

He watched with Sora and the others as Tegan sparred with Lea. They were down in a training room in the tower while Yen Sid worked on something for the new Soul Guardian.

Tegan dodge rolled to the left as one of Lea's chakrams flew past her and shot a blast of energy at the other redhead. He blocked it with his Keyblade and sent the other chakram at her, along with a fire spell.

"Lea, for the love of Mike! Stick to one weapon for now! All I have is Saving Grace, you jerk!" Tegan back flipped as the spell and weapon collided where she once stood.

"Got to be ready for anything, Teg! Besides, what fun is using only my Keyblade?" For reasons unknown, Lea was still able to use his Nobody weapons even though he was no longer one, and the metal rings seemed to float on their own around him, leaving the newest Keybearer free to hold onto his Keyblade alone. Tegan rushed up and swung her halberd down in an arch and used the Reversal move to kick him in the side. Lea was flung back but quickly recovered.

Her eyes flicked over to the sidelines throughout the fight and she spied all of her friends together but one. After dodging another attack she found what she had been looking for. Vanitas was leaning against the wall separated from everyone else and hidden in the shadows. They locked eyes for a second before Vanitas turned away with a scowl.

She had no idea what was going on with him. Back home they had gotten along well enough with each other, now he was avoiding her every chance he got. Or he'd brush her off and give her the cold shoulder. Ever since the talk with Yen Sid…

As the two sparred, the onlookers all watched with interest. Riku and Sora were cheering on Tegan, while Kairi took Lea's side. Salem watched the two go at it, but also kept his eye on Vanitas who watched the fight intently from his spot. He knew that Vanitas liked to keep to himself and give the impression that he wasn't interested in other people. But behind the sour frown, Salem could see the boy's gold eyes watching Tegan's every move. Every action Tegan made was held under great scrutiny, like she was an unpredictable wild animal. Vanitas had been very distant ever since their talk with Yen Sid, but it looked like he wasn't as distant as he wanted everyone to think… Leaving his friends, he approached the black haired boy.

"What have you got against Tegan?" He asked rather bluntly. Vanitas jumped a little and looked narrowly at the mage-in-training.

"What are you going on about?" Salem sighed.

"Come on, Vanitas. You keep glaring at her and avoiding Tegan every time she tried to talk to you, and just now you keep starring at her like you expect her to slice your head off with that halberd of hers. We all have to go into this together, so why can't you get along? It wouldn't hurt you to let someone in, even just a little, you know…" he trailed off when Van's shoulders tensed and his frown deepened. He could see that he was getting nowhere and sighed again.

"Look. I'm not saying you have to be best friends with her. But it wouldn't kill you to get to know them." He gestured towards everyone. "They're all on your side, Van. And I can tell Tegan is here for you, just like I am man. She's not gonna hurt you. She might just be able to help the both of us…" He walked back to his friends and left Vanitas to his thoughts.

Vanitas glowered at the ground_._ Salem may have been trying to give him some advice, but all it did was irritate Vanitas.

He didn't really want to let anyone in. From what he had seen, having people close to you only left room for pain and suffering. Look what happened to Ventus and his friends. Each one of them had been stabbed in the back one way or another by those close to them, and Vanitas didn't want to deal with that.

And the problem with Tegan was that she was too trusting. And nosy. She was persistent in trying to figure out the reasons behind the attack when they arrived that she became relentless, and it was driving him crazy…

His mind flashed back to the confrontation with the Unversed. That in of itself was a problem. The Unversed weren't his anymore, and that was a big crack in his psyche. So of course he had gotten defensive when Tegan had asked what happened. That was not something he wanted to let people in on. It was his own problem that he wanted to take care of himself.

Thinking back, he remembered how Tegan had thrown herself over him as a shield, letting herself get hurt. He had barely been conscious but he could hear her heart beating frantically as she protected him from his own creations. He couldn't believe that she would do something like that. They barely knew each other, yet that crazy girl was perfectly willing to put herself in harm's way to save his miserable hide. It didn't make sense…

Shaking his head he tried to clear it and focus on Tegan's fight with Lea.

He had to admit that from what little time she had been at it, Tegan was getting really good with that halberd. He had watched the sessions Tegan had been receiving. She insisted that she wanted to learn to adapt to other fighting styles so everyone agreed to help out. Lea and Sora sparred with her. Kairi, who turned out to be really good with magic, taught her some spells and practiced with her and Salem, who also helped her work on honing her Anima powers (meaning Salem played practice dummy while Tegan threw energy blasts at him). Riku even helped her develop some special moves for her to use in battle. Vanitas watched it all from a distance. He had decided that it was best, after what happened when they arrived, to keep his distance from Tegan. Whether she believed him or not, he was still dangerous to be around and he knew it…

"AHHHHHH!" Vanitas looked up just in time to see Lea get flung, very comically, into Salem. Looking over into the arena he saw Tegan smiling, leaning against her weapon while twirling one of Lea's chakrams in her other hand. She giggled a little and grinned wickedly.

"I like these things…" she said appreciatively as she looked over the chakram. "I can see why you use 'em, Lea." Vanitas grinned ever so slightly as Lea groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…Anyone else want to take on Princess here while I rearrange my spine?" Crickets literally chirped when no one answered. Salem, who had just gotten over his probable concussion, perked up and grinned like the Cheshire cat.

"I volunteer Vani-boy!" he shouted then ducked somewhere to hide. Everyone's head swerved to look at Vanitas, including Tegan. Vanitas looked at them back with a blank stare before scowling at Salem, who was smirking from behind a column. The purple haired boy just gave him the thumbs up sign and jerked his head back behind the column.

"…I'll pass." Vanitas muttered. He was vaguely aware of Tegan frowning.

"Come on, Van!" she called. When he didn't respond she tried a different tactic. "What? Scared you'll get your butt kicked by a girl? Or are you just a chicken in general?" She smirked at him. She _was _going to fight him. She was pretty ticked about him avoiding her all the time and this was the best way she could think to get through.

Vanitas narrowed his eyes at her challenge. Chicken? Him?

"Yeah right. Like you could beat me." He shrugged it off.

"Then prove it." Tegan challenged. "Come at me, bro!" Tegan crouched down and held Saving Grace up, its blade behind her head and ready to strike. Vanitas quirked an eyebrow at her and she quirked one back. They stood there for several seconds like that while the others looked back and forth between them. Finally, Vanitas sighed and held his hands up in defeat.

"Fine. But don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a newbie." He summoned Void Gear and stepped into the ring. While they stood in front of each other, Salem stepped out of his hiding place. He sat down next to Lea and Riku.

"Are you sure this is gonna work, Salem?" Sora asked. Salem shrugged.

"Not entirely. Vanitas has never been much of a people person, even when I first met him. I think he tolerates me because we somewhat get each other. It could take a miracle to get him to cooperate, but Tegan might be able to handle it…"

Tegan stared down her opponent as she waited. Vanitas was in his battle stance and the two of them stood as still as statues. Then they suddenly moved, rushing each other at the same time. Vanitas swung his Keyblade to the right and Tegan blocked it with her halberd and flipped it around to knock his legs out from under him. It worked but Vanitas used that chance to roll as he fell, hooking his foot around Tegan's leg to trip her up. She fell backwards and hit the ground, seeing stars for a few seconds as Vanitas picked himself back up.

"Is that all you got?" He taunted. Tegan jumped up and smirked.

"Oh not even close…"

She rushed at him and swung her halberd in a wide arc. Vanitas dodged it but was caught in the side by the shaft. While trying to recover, Tegan shot a blast of energy at him that sent him sprawling. Now it was her turn to taunt.

"Is that all _you _got?"

She smiled and laughed while Vanitas picked himself up. She stopped however when she saw a strange smirk on his face.

"Well then, let's see how you like this…" He then sunk into the ground. Like literally sunk and became a glowing black and red pool of energy on the ground. Tegan gulped, recognizing the move from the BBS videogame.

"Holy sea salt ice cream!" She then started running around the arena while he chased after her. "Death by blob!"

While running, Tegan worked on a plan. She knew that the second Vanitas caught up to her she would be in for some trouble. Then she got an idea.

Fishing in her pocket, Tegan pulled out something Salem had helped her make the other day. Throwing a small round ball to the ground she was enveloped in a puff of smoke. A few seconds later Tegan came running out of it and slowed down.

Once she came to a stop she raised her weapon above her head. As the blob neared she held her breath. Then, Vanitas popped up in front of her and took a swing with his Keyblade. Tegan blocked it and then used the blade to knock Void Gear out of his hands. The Keyblade went flying and she rammed into Vanitas.

He fell flat on his back with a thud. When the stars cleared from his vision he saw Tegan staring at him and holding his Keyblade. With a smile she tossed it to him and helped him up.

"Ready to call it quits, buddy?" she asked. He smirked.

"Not a chance." He held his weapon in an offensive position. Tegan smiled too.

"Oh, too bad…For you that is." She suddenly disappeared with a pop. Vanitas looked around but couldn't find her.

"Over here Van!" He turned to see Tegan hanging upside down in mid air. He blinked in confusion. Tegan held her hand out and threw a spell at him.

"Freeze!" A chunk of ice shot at him. Vanitas rolled to the right but something swept his legs out from under him and he landed flat on his back again. He then felt some pressure on his chest. Opening his eyes, he saw Tegan sitting on him and pointing her halberd at him. But that wasn't all, there was another Tegan standing next to her and smiling!

"Good job, Tegan." The first one said.

"Thanks, Tegan." Replied the other.

"Checkmate Vanitas!" they replied together. He stared at the two incredulously.

"Why the hell are there two of you?!" The Tegan sitting on him smiled while the other one disappeared. In its place was a small round capsule, which the real Tegan picked up.

"Instant Clone." She replied. "Salem helped me make it yesterday. Cool huh? Any way, are we cool now?" She got off and helped him up.

"I mean, you're not mad any more are you?" she looked sheepishly at him.

Vanitas looked at her with a blank stare. _Salem's right. I guess I'm gonna have to get used to the fact that I have team mates now …But she's got some skills if she can take _me _down…_

"I was never mad." He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. "But we're cool…" Tegan smiled. She slung her arm around his shoulder and laughed.

"Good. It's no fun having a friend mad at you, you know!" Vanitas looked over and stared. In a matter of seconds he started to laugh as well.

"You are one weird kid."

The two sobered up when they saw Yen Sid enter the training room. He motioned for everyone to gather around and presented something to Tegan.

It was a small pin made of bronze and shaped like a gear. Tegan looked up confused.

"What's this?" Yen Sid smiled a little.

"If you are to be traveling with everyone you will need some armor, correct? I have crafted this generator for you. Simply clip it onto your clothes and press down on the button in the center…"

As Tegan put it on he added, "I also included a new set of clothes to replace those. It would not do to have you traveling the worlds in rags…' Tegan looked down at her ratty clothing and blushed. He was right…

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid sir." Tegan bowed and activated her armor. There was a flash of light as Tegan crackled with electricity. He old torn clothes transformed into brand new and (very stylish) ones. She wore a sleeveless green shirt and a pair of matching shorts, with black straps criss-crossing her thighs. Her legs were covered by a pair of comfortable leather boots and fishnet leggings and a black and silver checkered belt had her Wayfinder hanging from it. Green fingerless gloves appeared on her hands while a large piece of black and silver armor showed up on one of her arms, while an arm warmer of the same colors showed up on the other. She also got a new, light green trench coat-like jacket and her pin was fastened to a pair of light purple straps that crossed over her chest and back, like the BBS characters. Her hair even got put up and was held back by a silver hair band. The results were very shocking.

Salem and Lea whistled while the others either widened their eyes or exclaimed their approval of Tegan's new outfit.

"Wow…" Tegan mused as she looked herself over. "Pretty sweet! Hey, I even still have my necklaces! Thank you Master!" She bowed again and ran around, testing out her new clothes. Her coat billowed out dramatically as she ran and her Wayfinder jangled musically.

"So then," Salem wondered out loud. "What now?" Everyone went quiet as they tried to think. Salem began fiddling with something in one of his bags, Lea and Sora both stared up at the ceiling, and Tegan swayed from side to side with a look of deep concentration on her face.

"Well…" she tried. "We need to free Souls, find and free the others, and it would probably be a good idea to learn what we can about all of the above…Oh! I know!" She snapped her fingers and looked up. "There is one place we can look that could work. And it was the last place Aqua was seen…Anyone up for a road trip to Radian Garden?" There was a chorus of agreements and that matter was settled. As everyone left the training room to get ready, Tegan walked up with Kairi and Salem.

"So Salem what was wrong earlier? You kept looking at Tegan really strangely…" Kairi asked. She had become good friends with Salem and knew that he had been acting different ever since it was revealed that Tegan was one of those Anima people.

"Yeah, what was up with that, Witch-man?" Tegan added. "That was freaking me out."

"Oh! Um… Well." He mumbled. "I guess it would be easier to show you…" He unzipped his jacket and pulled his left arm out of its sleeve. On his shoulder was a tattoo of open heart, a snowflake, and jagged wings all inked with purple or black. It looked kind of like…

"Hey!" Tegan exclaimed. "That looks like mine!" She clutched a hand to her heart where her mark was and looked at Salem suspiciously. He couldn't be…Could he?

Salem sighed and put his jacket back on. "Yeah…It's a Brand, the mark of an Anima. Each is a little unique to its owner. I suppose since we'll be working with each other you might as well know, huh?" He sighed again and shrugged his shoulders. "It's actually a good thing now that I think about it…Now we've got both types on our side."

"Types?" Tegan and Kairi looked at him curiously.

"Yeah, there are two types of Anima: Mage-class and Warrior-class. As Master Yen Sid's apprentice, it's pretty obvious what type I am. And judging by your fighting style and weapon, Tegan you are a Warrior-class. Make sense?"

"But if you're an Anima too, why do you guys need me?" Tegan asked. "Can't you unchain the Souls?" She jumped a little when Salem's usually carefree demeanor was replaced by an ominous cloud. Salem glared ahead of him and if looks could kill, Vanitas and Riku would have been dead men walking.

"Not really." He muttered. "Mages can only _create_ chains. Warriors serve as the balance to that and unlock them…I would if I could, but I don't have my powers anymore. I'm an Anima, but all I can do is see souls. What use is that?" The two girls looked at him sadly. Salem looked like a defeated man while he talked about his missing powers.

"That's terrible…" Tegan said. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you lose them?" Tegan already had an idea on where they went, but it was better safe then sorry. She watched as Salem's glare changed into a bitter smile.

"Oh that's an easy one…That old fool Xehanort took 'em. A while back he and that stupid Organization of his had me as their prisoner. I guess they wanted me to help them in their master plan, but I didn't care. I didn't help them, so the old geezer took my powers from me. That's how he's chaining the Worlds, with my power." His face changed again, eyes looking far away as if he was remembering something.

"I think that was around the time I met Vanitas. He sprang me and we got the heck outta there. Later we found Yen Sid, who took us in and the rest is history…"

"Yeah, and I regret the moment I rescued this freak every day now…" Vanitas joked. Salem widened his eyes in mock horror and threw out his arms dramatically.

"Vanitas!" he exclaimed. "You wound me, my old friend! Without me where would the excitement in your life be?" He threw his arm around the black haired boy's shoulder and ginned companionly. Vanitas just moaned.

"You mean chaos! Do you remember the time you turned me into a newt?!"

"Hey, you got better! And how was I supposed to know you were there when I was making potions? That wasn't my fault!" Tegan looked between the bickering boys and burst into laughter. The two stopped arguing and gave her "WTF" faces, making her laugh even harder.

"You two would make the funniest brothers!" she exclaimed after catching her breath.

"Would not!"

"Glad you agree."

"Well then," Lea interrupted. "When you kiddies are done joking around, meet down outside and we'll get going. It's time for a trip home!"

* * *

**Tegan: Plot development~~~!**

**Salem: No kidding, Doll Face. Now we comence with the draggging out of my skeletons. fun...  
**

**L&DH: aw cheer up, Say. i didn't make you a moper!  
**

**Salem: Eh...  
**

**L&DH: *sighs* Here. *hands him cake*  
**

**Salem: CAKE! *takes it and runs off*  
**

**Tegan: There's the Salem we know.  
**

**L&DH: thanks for reading everyone! like always, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!  
**

**Both: BYE!  
**


	6. Home (not so) Sweet Home

**L&DH: welcome back, ladies and gents!**

***Tegan bouncing around in background*  
**

**Salem: What's with you, Doll Face?  
**

**Tegan: my pic is finally up on Deviantart! i'm excited!  
**

**L&DH: oh yeah, salem. your's should be up soon too. just need to finsh it.  
**

**Salen: sweet! hey, should we have the newbie do the disclaimer this time?  
**

**Tegan: sure. hey Angie!  
**

**Angelique: Bonjour! L&DH does not own Kingdom 'earts, Final Fantasy, or anything else. All she owns is ze OCs and ze story. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey, Doll Face, catch!"

Tegan turned just in time for something to hit her in the head. "OW! Salem, watch where you're throwing things!"

She looked down and saw that the object that hit her in the head was a crystal of some sort. It was about as big as her fist and was shaped kind of like an "L". Most of it was yellow but around one side it was a purplish-pink color. Tegan looked at Salem in confusion.

"You need some mode of transportation, don't you?" he pointed out. "That's my gift to you. We non-Keyblade wielders gotta travel some way. Here, watch me."

He pulled out a crystal of his own, one that was shaped like a feather. He pointed to it then threw it up in the air. With quick reflexes Salem reached into one of his pockets and hurled a throwing star at the crystal. When the two met in the air the crystal exploded in a blast of fire. A huge figure emerged dressed all in red and carrying a crossbow landed next to Salem, causing the ground to shake and everyone to lose their balance. Tegan knocked into Vanitas, who then fell into Sora.

"Hey!

"Ow!"

"Sorry!"

Tegan looked up to see Salem grinning and her eyes widened when she recognized the figure standing next to him.

"How the heck did you get a hold of Brynhilder!?" she exclaimed. Salem grinned and held up his chin.

"I'm just that awesome."

As everyone got up, Tegan stared at the crystal in her hands. If Salem's crystal was Brynhilder than this one was…

"Hey Tegan." Sora waved a hand in front of her face. When she blinked he continued. "You should probably activate that" he pointed to the crystal. "We're all set to go."

Tegan looked around and saw that he was right. Everyone had donned some sort of armor and summoned up their transportation. Sora, Riku, and Kairi's Gliders looked similar to Ven, Terra, and Aqua's. They even had their own armor in silver, gold, and bronze. Lea's Glider looked like a skateboard with flames and his chakrams floating around it with black and red armor. Vanitas had summoned up Void Gear and even Brynhilder had transformed into its racing car form.

"Come on, Freckles!" Vanitas called. "It was your idea to go to Radiant Garden in the first place! We haven't got all day!"

Tegan nodded and threw her crystal into the air. Launching a blast of ice at it resulted in a massive explosion and the sound of something roaring. When the light faded, a large dragon appeared. At least it looked _kind of _like a dragon. It was purple and looked similar to a mech, with massive wings and clawed legs with and exhaust pipes in the back. The creature roared again and flew down beside Tegan, who held out a hand and stroked his side.

"Hello, Bahamut." She smiled. "Thank you very much, O Hallowed Father of Eidolins, for being my ride." She activated her armor, which resulted in a set of silver and black-lined armor with a large blue sash wrapped around her. Appropriately it made her feel a little like Fang from FFXIII. Hopping up on Bahamut, she rode him up and shot past everyone.

"Come on then! What are we waiting for?!" she called, and they all went off for Radiant Garden.

…

…

…..

"Amazing!"

Tegan sprung around, marveling at the sight of the City of Light. It looked even more amazing in person, not to mention the fact that it looked back to normal again. The restoration Committee did a marvelous job!

They had arrived at Radiant garden safely and landed in the middle of town, where Aqua had disappeared. Tegan knelt down by the ground and smiled at the flowers. Sometimes you just can't over-look the little things…

"So what now, Tegan?" She turned around to see Salem and Sora standing behind her. Smiling she got up and twirled a small blue flower between her fingers.

"Well, right now we are standing on the very spot that hosted very significant moments in the game…" She put the flower in her pocket and began pacing, face very business man-like and arms behind her. "A few of them dealing with Aqua, so we should start there."

Vanitas walked over with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "So what's the game plan?" He knew one of those "events" Tegan mention was when he fought Aqua under the old man's orders. Never would have guessed she disappeared in the same spot too.

"Okay, back-story time." Tegan turned around and gathered everyone close. "So it went like this. After Aqua had stashed away Ven, she came here and found Terra possessed by Xehanort. She tried fighting him to break the creep's hold over his heart but the both of them ended up sinking into darkness. But when they did, Aqua made sure Terra wouldn't get trapped by sending him away safely with her Keyblade and her armor. Then Terra was found by Ansem the Wise and the Apprentices, who brought him to the castle." Tegan looked over at Lea.

"Okay so Lea, we need to get into the castle. Do you think Even and Ienzo and the others will allow it?" The other red head thought for a second then nodded.

"I don't see why they wouldn't." Tegan nodded.

"Good. When we get in we might need their help doing some snooping around…" Riku looked at her quizzically.

"Why?" he asked.

"Aqua's armor and Keyblade were brought in when Terra was. As far as I know, the Apprentices were the last people to see them. We'll need their help looking for the things."

"Let me guess," Kairi added. "If we used those, we might be able to find Aqua?" Tegan nodded.

"It's a long shot, but the only lead I can think of. And if not, don't you think Aqua might want her stuff back when we find her?" She rubbed her hands together and turned to face the castle. "Lea, if you could lead the way? We've got some ex-Nobodies to question!"

While Lea led them up the stairs Tegan began fumbling in her pockets. There were a bunch of them sewn into the inside of her jacket, along with lots of interesting things. Her sketchbook, some pencils, even the taser she had brought with her. But there were things she didn't recall bringing either.

"What's that?" Sora pointed to an object sticking out from one of her pockets. Tegan pulled out a small, square shaped object with a few buttons and a circular thing in the middle. A small set of ear buds were plugged into it. Tegan mentally thanked Yen Sid before answering.

"It's my IPod! Back on my world we use these to listen to music. Oh thank god I have it!" She began jumping up and down, earning a few looks from people passing by.

"How does it work?" Sora asked curiously. Tegan showed the others how to turn it on and scroll through the music with the circular button. As a joke, she gave Sora and Salem the headphones and put on one of her newer downloads on it. Riku, Kairi, and Tegan laughed at the two boys who jumped when "American Idiot" by Green Day blasted in their ears. Tegan looked over at Vanitas, who just "humphed" and looked moody. She nudged him.

"What's with the long face, man?" Vanitas looked at her from the corner of his eyes before huffing again. After a minute of not answering Tegan started poking him in the sides.

"Come on you sourpuss!" She giggled during the onslaught of his ribs until he snapped at her.

"Knock it off will ya?!" He flung his arms out. Tegan, taken off guard, stumbled and tripped into someone in front of her. With a couple of squeaks the two crashed down to the ground.

"OW!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry!"

Tegan helped up the girl she had knocked down. She looked about her age with a thin figure hidden behind a long purple skirt and a sleeveless shirt. She wore a dark blue shawl around her shoulders and brown slip-ons as footwear. The really odd thing was that the girl had long white hair and peculiar eyes. They were an eerie blood red with swirling silver but no pupils. They freaked Tegan out beyond belief and she involuntarily flinched when she saw them lock with hers, narrowing with annoyance.

"Rather rude, do you not think?" the girl spoke with an accent similar to a French one. "You would do well to watch where you are going. If you are not careful, you just might walk into a well or off a cliff." She turned on her heel and walked further up the steps to the castle. Looking behind her, she saw the others shrug, shake their heads in confusion, or in Vanitas' case smirk. Tegan rushed up after the girl.

"Hey! I'm really sorry about that." She called. "I really should have been watching where I was going…But are you alright?" The girl stopped walking and turned to face Tegan. With a shrug, the girl sighed.

"I suppose so. It is very kind of you to ask, _merci_. Now if you will excuse me, I 'ave business with the ones who live in zis castle." She started to continue walking when Sora piped up.

"Well so are we! I'm Sora and these are my friends Riku, Kairi, Lea, Salem, Vanitas, and that's Tegan." He pointed to each person and the girl looked each of them over. Putting a hand on her hip she smiled brightly.

"_Bonjour_! Pleased to meet all of you. I am Angelique. If you 'ave business with the people up 'ere come along and let us go together." She walked down the steps to walk with everyone else. She made the mistake of standing next to Salem however. The purple haired boy put on a charming smile and bowed to her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Angelique. I'm glad to hear that our clumsy Tegan didn't harm you. It would be a shame for such a lovely young lady such as yourself to be hurt." He ignored the murderous glares from Tegan as he walked along side the girl. Angelique nodded absentmindedly and kept looking around, as if she was trying to find something. Salem didn't notice this and continued chatting up the girl while they made their way to the castle gates.

Tegan smirked when she caught sight of the familiar gatekeepers, Dilan and Aeleus. Sora and Riku noticed them too and pulled out their weapons, causing the gatekeepers to do like wise.

"What are you doing here?!" Three of them cried out (all but Aeleus, who didn't talk much as a Somebody or as Lexaeus). This in turn caused Kairi and Vanitas to summon _their_ weapons too, while Salem pulled out a few throwing knives as he glared at the two former Nobodies.

"Damn, you two are still around?!" He spat. He flung his knives at the two, who prepared to fight back.

_CLANG!_

Everyone gasped as Lea and Tegan stood in front of the two gatekeepers, Tegan facing the teens while Lea faced his old comrades, and blocked the knives, lances, and tomahawk.

"Hold it, hold it!" Lea yelled. Tegan lowered her halberd and let the knives clatter to the ground.

"Chill out, you guys. These two are okay!" Salem hissed and marched his way up to Tegan.

"'Okay'? Are you outta your mind, girl? These guys are ORGANIZATION MEMBERS! Supreme scumbags!" Behind them, Dilan grumbled.

"It's nice to see you two, Salem…" He muttered. Salem yelled and tried to push past Tegan. But he didn't get far, because Vanitas was behind him in an instant, pinning his arms behind his back.

"Relax, Salem." He warned. "If Tegan and Lea say they're cool, they're cool. Now back off before I have to make you." Salem struggled and everyone watched shocked. No one had seen the boy act like this before. He struggled and yelled while Vanitas and Tegan tried to calm him down.

"I don't care!" he yelled. "Those two specifically tormented me almost on a daily basis! I'll kill 'em! Let me go!" He didn't notice someone walking up behind him. In a flash, Angelique had his face in an iron grip as she pulled it down to her eye level.

"Salem." She said slowly. "You must not behave like zis. Whatever those two did to you in the past 'as nothing to do with the present. Now calm down. Now." The silver in her eyes swirled more than ever as her eyes bored into Salem's dark ones. Eventually he stopped struggling and assumed a pacified state.

"Fine…" He lowered his arms and Vanitas released him. Angelique gave him a small smile and released his face, turning to the gatekeepers.

"'ello Monsignors Dilan and Aeleus." She said cheerily. "I have come to see Monsignor Even. Is 'e in?" Aeleus nodded and Dilan bowed.

"Yes Miss Angelique. He has been waiting for you. I assume you know your way to the Lab." The white haired girl nodded and walked by.

"_Oui, merci_. 'ave a nice day." She walked in, leaving a bunch of confused people in her wake. Lea sighed and turned to Dilan.

"Hey, can you guys gather up the others? We need to ask all of you some questions." Dilan looked at him questioningly.

"It's about when you all found Xehanort, Mr. Dilan." Tegan added. The two gatekeepers exchanged glances and nodded.

"I will go get Even and Ienzo." Aeleus walked off. While Dilan ushered everyone in, the teens all looked at Salem questioningly. The purple haired boy glared at them.

"What?" Tegan put her hand on her hip on looked him squarely in the eye.

"What was that all about?" She demanded. The other nodded and Sora added.

"Yeah, I've never seen you act like that before, Salem. I mean I know they were Organization members, but you lost it!" Salem growled and glared at the floor.

"Well excuse me. You guys didn't have to deal with them like I did…" Lea sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

"Salem. How many times do I have to tell you," He waved his hand impatiently through the air. "They were under orders. We all were. None of us wanted to hurt you kiddo."

"They could have at least _not_ beaten me within an inch of life, Lea!" Salem snarled. "The only ones who ever gave me a break were you and Ienzo! Dilan and Aeleus nearly killed me multiple times! How can I forgive them for that?" He clenched his fists and grimaced, like he was remembering horrid memories. Without another word Salem turned around and bolted down a hallway, leaving everyone shocked.

"Salem! Wait!" Kairi and Tegan turned to follow him.

"Don't bother…" The two girls turned to see Vanitas leaning against the hall wall, arms crossed and starring at the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Kairi looked back, where Salem had turned the corner and vanished from sight. Tegan looked back and forth between Vanitas and the spot where Salem had been standing.

"Exactly what I mean." He continued "Don't even bother trying to chase that guy down. You'd never be able to catch him, first off. Plus it wouldn't be worth it…" Tegan glared at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Vanitas shifted his gaze to meet Tegan's glare head on.

"What do you think? Look, none of you understand what Salem went through. I don't know how long it had been going on, but when I was working for Xemnas they would try everything to get him to work for them. Day in and day out he was made to suffer like you wouldn't believe. They tried everything in their book to get him to submit, but Salem's own stubborn pride was the only thing keeping him out." His gaze dropped back to the ground, a hint of cold fury and sadness flickering in his golden eyes. "Some scars just don't heal…"

Lea nodded grimly. "Yeah. Salem used to live here in the castle, so he was close with all of the apprentices. While the other Organization members were harsh on trying to break him, Xemnas made the apprentices dish out the torture twice as hard. There's nothing worse than being beaten by the people you considered family. Heck, the only ones besides Ienzo and me who didn't beat the hell out of him were Demyx and Roxas. They wouldn't let Rox anywhere near him, Demyx wouldn't have done it anyway, and Ienzo refused because he was friends with Salem as kids. But Dilan and Aeleus…" Lea shifted his weight and leaned against a column.

"Dilan and Aeleus were like big brothers to Salem. When Isa and I would try to break into the castle, Salem was always hanging around those two. They were his role models and his heroes, and Xemnas exploited that…"

The group was silent through the whole tale, but Tegan's stomach twisted with disgust. Disgust and sympathetic pain. Nothing could be worse, she decided, than having the people you looked up to fight you because they were ordered to. It was unfathomable and it made bitter, angry tears spring up in Tegan's eyes.

"That's terrible." She choked out. "No, its worse than terrible. It's unforgivable." She clenched her fist so hard she swore that her knuckles were turning white. All around looks of pain and loathing crossed the faces.

"Xehanort…" Sora muttered. "All these lives ruined…Because of him…"

"He must be stopped." Riku stated.

"He will." Kairi said passionately. "I know we can do it!"

"When I see that bald headed old freak…" Tegan growled out. "I'm gonna slug him one…For everyone he has hurt. For Terra, for Aqua and Ven, the apprentices and Salem…Everyone…"

While the Heroes of Light stood out in the hallway, a pair of odd red eyes peered out from around a corner. Angelique had seen the whole thing and felt her heart ache in response to all the suffering.

"Zis Xehanort is worse zan I thought. _Sacre bleu_, 'e is a monster…" she whispered. "I know I 'ave my own mission, but I must find some way to 'elp. I must…"

* * *

***Everyone looks at Salem pouting in a dark corner***

**Tegan: Salem? you alright?  
**

**Salem: Go away...Leave me alone...  
**

**Angelique: Ze poor thing...  
**

**L&DH: Sorry, Say. But I wanted to get some more of your backstory out. Things will get better. you'll see.  
**

**Salem: *sighs* Yeah, sure. Anyway, I'm gonna drown my sorrows in some root beer. *gets up and walks out of room*  
**

**L&DH: Okay, while we go and comfort Salem, thanks everyone for reading! feedback is always appreciated and welcome. Bye! *Rushes off yelling: Salem, you can't get drunk off of root beer!*  
**

**Tegan: Later! *runs off*  
**

**Angelique: Au revior!  
**


	7. A Presence of Light

**L&DH: And welcome my friends! thank you for tuning into H&S! have we got stuff in store for you, my dears! *smirks and trying to hold in laughter***

**Tegan:...What's up with you?**

**Vanitas: Good question. Maybe she's finally lost her sanity?**

**L&DH: Who let you in?! anyway no, my sanity is still hanging on by a shred. It's just that i have some fun planned soon. It's almost time to reveal some new characters!**

**Tegan: Oh, that makes sense, i guess *rolls eyes* Anyway, L&DH doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or really anything. We just pay rent in her head.**

**L&DH: shut up, you...Anyway, on with the show!**

* * *

"We're looking for the Keyblade and armor that was found when Xehanort showed up. Do any of you know where it went? Both are made of blue and silver metals."

Tegan sat on a lab counter in one of the laboratories of the castle. The others were seated on chairs or leaning against walls while some of the Apprentices faced them. The only one missing was Even, who was off somewhere discussing whatever it was that brought that Angelique girl here. Salem hadn't returned either.

"A Keyblade? Armor? Why would we have any of that?" The shorter of the scientists, Ienzo, asked. Tegan sighed.

"Oh that's right, you were still a kid and probably didn't see it." Tegan ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, so when Xehanort was found, you were asked to grab the armor and Keyblade, right Dilan? Do you know what happened to it?" The guard shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. When we got back and Xehanort was taken care of, Braig took those items and ran off somewhere. I assume he hid them. Sadly, I haven't seen them since." A few pairs of shoulders slumped while Tegan tapped her chin.

_ Now what?_

"Well, they had to have hid them somewhere in the castle, right?" Riku interrupted. "Why don't we just look for them?"

"Oh, good idea." Tegan hopped off the lab counter and started pacing. "So where do we look?"

"Let's start in the rooms." Kairi suggested. Everyone found that was the best solution and Ienzo led the group to the bedroom wing of the castle. There were a number of rooms so some people ended up in groups. Sora, Riku, and Kairi checked the rooms on the left with Ienzo, while Tegan, Vanitas, and Lea got the right. The first room was one that obviously hadn't been used in a _long_ time.

"What do we have here?"

Tegan was confused as they searched the room. From the looks of it, it had been a little boy's room at one time. There was a small bed with blue and green sheets and a mobile with planets and stars hanging over it. Toys were scattered on the floor and there was a small bookshelf in one corner. The shelf was next to a large rocking chair and lamp right next to the window. Tegan picked up a small toy boat and smiled.

"I wonder whose this was. Ienzo's…or Salem's?" she said quietly. She thought know one had heard her, but it seemed that she was wrong. Lea approached silently and showed her a picture.

In it, there was a pair of older men standing in front of the castle gates, one with dark hair and the other with rust-brown. Sitting on the dark-haired man's shoulders was a little boy. He was smiling under a messy mop of black hair and brandishing a wooden sword. Despite the dramatic change in appearance, Tegan recognized the smile.

"Salem…"

"He looks happy…"

Tegan jumped and clutched the photograph to her chest. Glaring behind her, she locked gazes with the black-haired boy starring over her shoulder.

"Dammit, Van! You scared the heck out of me!"

"Wimp…" Vanitas snickered.

Tegan stuck her tongue out at him and put the picture on the shelf.

"You're right, though. He does look pretty happy." She smiled. "But he looks different now…I can't quite place it…"

"It couldn't be the fact that he dyed his hair purple." Vanitas remarked sarcastically. Tegan sighed and continued looking. Nothing in the closet, nothing under the bed. Not even a hidden panel in the wall.

"Let's move onto the next room." Lea suggested. "I don't think we'll find anything in here…" The two teens nodded.

_ I'm glad it wasn't here_, Tegan thought as she closed the door, placing a hand on the frame. _It doesn't feel right, invading his past like this…_

"Hey, you coming?" Tegan turned to see Vanitas starring at her. She nodded her head, gave the door one last tap, and followed.

"What were you doing?" Vanitas turned his head to look back at the door.

"I dunno…" Tegan scratched the back of her head. "Thinking I guess…Hey, Vanitas? How long have you known Salem?"

"A while." The black-haired boy shoved his hands in his pockets. "I was…in the Organization for a few years…" He noticed that Tegan's eyes seemed to flash for a second as she looked on ahead. He remembered that it had happened before…Back at Yen Sid's when she knew he was lying.

"But that's not all of it…Is it?" Tegan kept her gaze ahead. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I don't mind." She started to rifle through her pockets, pulling out random object and looking at them. They continued looking through the rooms, with no success. Same thing with the others.

"So we're at a dead end?" Sora looked down, frowning with disappointment.

"They have to be somewhere!" Tegan exclaimed. She ground her fists against her temples in frustration. Where, oh where, could they be?!

"You don't suppose that they got rid of them, do you?" Riku asked. As Tegan and Sora freaked out, Vanitas scoffed.

"Not likely. The old man would have kept them, just in case. And if not, Eye Patch would. My bet is that the stuff's just hidden somewhere…"

"Hidden is right!" Tegan grumbled. "I just hope that Aqua's things weren't moved…Ienzo. Are you sure there wouldn't be anywhere else we could look?" The young scientist looked thoughtful.

"Perhaps…But I wouldn't be the one to know. Salem was the one who made it his business to know about secret passages and such. We need him."

The motley crew of travelers looked at each other. None of them had seen or heard from Salem in a good two hours, ever since he stormed off.

"But is that really a good idea?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah. If he's still upset about all this, is it really fair to drag him back here…?" Riku added.

Tegan agreed a little. She really couldn't imagine what Salem was going through. So if he needed space, she would gladly respect that. Especially after feeling like an intruder in his old bedroom…

"…I'll go."

Everyone turned to look at Vanitas. He frowned at them, one eyebrow raised in a definite "Got a problem with that?" manner. "I'll go get him. I can knock some sense into that thick skull of his, and bring him right back. Got a problem?"

No one said no, in fact no one said anything at all. Vanitas was the last one they had expected to volunteer. Tegan blinked, and then smiled cheerily.

"Well alright then! Van, mind if I come with you then? Be nice to check out this place, while I'm here…" She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and smiled. Vanitas shrugged and turned on his heel.

"Just don't slow me down…" Tegan nodded and bounced on her heels. She followed him down the hall.

…

"Haha! This is awesome!"

Tegan had been running around like a kid on a sugar rush. Everything about the world was amazing! She could almost feel the Light everywhere, and everyone was cheerful and happy.

"Hey!" Vanitas snapped. "What the hell are you doing now?!"

Tegan looked down at him from her perch in a tree. "Scouting, what else? This tree is huge!" She waved down and smiled while the black haired boy sighed in annoyance.

"Why did I agree to this…" he muttered. "Just don't break your neck up there!"

Tegan stuck her tongue out. "Chill out, Vanni. I'm a professional! Besides, up here I can see everything. Hey, come and join me!"

"Why should I do that? And don't call me Vanni!" His eye was twitching erratically while the redhead hung upside down, swinging around and looking like a giant, green bat.

"What do you mean why?" she giggled. "Two sets of eyes are better than one, Van! It will be easier to find Salem if we scope from high up! Plus its fun!" She began to swing back and forth faster before flipping onto another branch.

"I'll pass."

"Chicken!"

With that remark, Vanitas climbed up the tree like his life depended on it. He reached the branch just below Tegan's, so he glared at her while she was still upside down. Tegan waved.

"Why're you so serious, man? Lighten up!" She flipped down once more so that she landed next to him. The branch didn't so much as shake.

"We're supposed to be finding Salem, or did you forget that." He pointed out. Tegan knocked shoulders with him.

"Doesn't mean we can't have fun while doing it. Are you always like this?" she teased. Vanitas smirked at her.

"I thought you were supposed to know everything. Why don't you tell me, Little Miss Expert?" he scoffed. The redhead looked at him with narrowed eyes. With a huff, she turned her head haughtily and crossed her arms.

"I would think it was obvious by now, Vanni. I don't know _everything_. Like I had no idea about Salem or the whole Anima thing or…" She left the sentence hanging in the air. Vanitas turned to see her frown and mess around with her Wayfinder. She was nervously twisting the chain around her fingers while running her thumb over the gray points.

"…What's up?" he asked. Tegan didn't take her eyes off the charm.

"Thinking about how much I really don't know." was the reply. "Things keep popping up that I never had any idea about, like you and Salem. Did you know that the final confrontation with Xehanort hasn't come out yet? It's supposed to be in Kingdom Hearts 3, but the game hasn't been released yet. It reminds me that in this, I'm going in blind. And I agreed to it…I suppose I'm a little worried. What if I do something and it totally backfires? What if I screw things up?"

"Why didn't you just stay home then?" Vanitas asked quietly. He really didn't know how to respond any other way. He wasn't used to people confiding in him…

"I want to help. Knowing what I do, I just want to help set things right. All the things Xehanort has done, it isn't right. He hurt people, hurt worlds, messed so much up. It's not fair!" The last part she shouted, flinging her hands up. It startled the both of them.

"…I just…" she said quietly. "Knowing that it's all real, and not just a videogame, I just want to fix everyone. Ventus, Aqua, Terra…Ansem the Wise, Salem. Someone else who…helped me…Everyone who has been wronged by that man."

Vanitas stared at her. The girl really was something, he'd give her that. Never had he met someone who wore their heart on their sleeve more than Tegan. Nor had he met someone so open with him either. Did she really trust him?

"Heh." He chuckled. "Looks like you really are an Anima. The boss did warn me about the sense of justice you guys have…Still, must be nice…" He stared down at the ground far below them.

"What must be nice?"

"Having someone who really wants to help them…Ven's one lucky idiot…"

Tegan peered at Vanitas from the corner of her eye. He sounded almost…Jealous?

"He is…" she agreed, watching the frown on Vanitas' face deepen. "But you are too, Vanitas." She saw his eyes widen for a fraction of a second before he frowned once more and leaned up against the trunk of the tree.

"Oh yeah? How do you figure that?" his voice filled with venom. "For as long as I've lived, nobody's ever struck their neck out for me. No one even likes me. I'm just a…!"

He never finished his sentence, because a hand suddenly shot out and hit him upside the head. Once the stars cleared, he turned in shock to see Tegan glare at him. Her eyes were like steel.

"That's not true Vanitas!" she hissed. "I stuck out my neck! Or did you forget that I saved your ass _twice_ in one day? When I said that I wanted to help everyone, I meant you too, you dummy!"

Vanitas stared at her open mouthed. _She _wanted to help _him_? What?

"W-why? I'm pure Darkness! I'm part of the reason everything is so screwed up! So why would you…" He was stopped by Tegan placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Van…" she sighed. "While it's true, you did help to put everything in motion. But I choose to believe these facts." She held up one finger. "One: you tried to save me from the Unversed back at Yen Sid's. That alone is proof of the good in you." She held up another finger.

"Two: I know for a fact that Xehanort was using you just to get the X-Blade. You are just as much a victim of this as Ven or Terra or Aqua.

"And three, the most important one: you are my friend." She pointed to him. "I will be there for you. My friends are my family, and anyone who messes with my family will get their asses kicked to kingdom come by me. Okay?"

Vanitas looked at her in pure shock. Friends? With him? Before he could say anything, Tegan grabbed his hand. Taking her Wayfinder, she placed his hand on part of it and then her's next to it. It glowed for a second before Tegan could feel another presence within the charm. It was cocky and arrogant, dark too, but there was something else in there…

"Ha. What do you know?" She looked up at Vanitas. "You're not as dark as you think you are. I just felt Light in this thing. You've got Light, Vanitas." She smiled at him and low and behold, he smiled! Sure it was just a small one, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Light…" he whispered. "I've got Light?" Tegan nodded and there was a bright flash, forcing the two to close their eyes. When it faded, Tegan let out a whoop of joy.

In Vanitas' hand was a star shaped charm. A metal frame of silver surrounded five, petal-shaped pieces of dark red glass. They were held together with black cord and in the center was the symbol for the Unversed. A silver chain hung from the back with a simple clasp to hold it together. A Wayfinder. _His_ Wayfinder.

"No way…" Vanitas held the charm up, not believing that he held it. "I get one too?"

Tegan laughed. "See? We are friends! Wayfinders are like an unbreakable connection, and now you have one too! This is great!" She threw her arms around Vanitas and nearly knocked him out of the tree. The two started laughing, Tegan giggling with joy while Vanitas whooped in triumph. The black-haired boy held his charm high in the air, shouting with joy. When he calmed down, Vanitas stared intently at his Wayfinder.

"It was a long time ago." Vanitas said simply.

"What?"

"You asked about how long I had known Salem." Vanitas leaned back against the tree. "I doubt that he even remembers, but I met him once when I was Xehanort's apprentice. Back when I was…Evil. I was still a total creep, but Salem, the idiot he is, treated me like we were friends. Even though we had just met and he was only six. Maybe…Maybe he saw some good in me too."

Tegan looked at Vanitas. The boy's golden eyes glowed with the warmth of a person reliving a happy memory. There wasn't a trace of the sour frown that usually shown on his face. There was a trace of a smirk, but since this was Vanitas, it wasn't all that shocking. She found herself liking that sly, little smirk.

"Well, there is good in you. A person just needs to see through the grouchy exterior." She nudged his shoulder playfully and gave him a big, goofy smile.

Vanitas glanced over and felt comfort in her words. He understood what Salem had been trying to tell him earlier, about the others being there for him. After being alone for so long, who knows? Having friends could do some good for him after all.

_ Until they all stab you in the back. _A voice in his head sneered maliciously. _That's all "friends" do, they gain your trust, and then betray you. _

Vanitas pushed those thoughts out of his head. In order to keep them gone, his mind came up with a devious little scheme. Tegan was still smiling blissfully, her guard down. Time for some pay back.

Shifting his arm, he moved it so that his arm was around her waist. Before she could do anything, he hoisted her up onto his lap and smirked at her.

"W-What the hell, Vanitas?!" Tegan sputtered. His only reply was to put his Wayfinder in her hands so he could slide his other arm under he knees.

"The hell you doing boy?!" she shrieked.

"You aren't afraid of falling are you, Freckles?" he teased. Her face lit up bright red, making her skin almost match her hair, causing him to laugh. Looking down, he leaned forward. Tegan got the hint and panicked.

"Oh no. Don't you even think about it!"

"Geronimo!"

Vanitas leapt off the branch and dropped down. While he did so, Tegan screamed and flung her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Damn you, Vanitaaaas!"

Before the two hit the ground, Vanitas used his Dark Void move to sink into the ground. A few seconds later, they shot up out of the ground and Vanitas landed lightly on his feet. Straightening, he looked down to see Tegan clinging to his jacket.

. He set her down with a chuckle. "Let's call that revenge for sitting on me earlier…" He peered at the redhead curiously.

Tegan just stood there, starring out in space. She wasn't moving either, which was very odd. When Vanitas waved a hand lazily in her face, she didn't seem to react.

"Hello! Earth to Tegan!" She still said nothing, just starring ahead of her blankly. Okay, now he was getting weirded out. Was she in shock or something?

"Hey!" he started shaking her shoulder. "Yo! Tegan, what's the matter with yo-OOF!" He fell backwards as Tegan shoved her elbow into his chest. He fell down and Tegan stood over her, laughing.

"What the hell?!" he spat. Tegan smirked at him.

"Payback, ma friend." was her reply. "Not wise ta mess wit' a Scot, laddie."

Vanitas looked up at her, confused by the sudden change in her voice. She totally changed accents on him. Tegan sensed his confusion and gave him a hand up.

"I'm originally from Scotland, Van." She said, her voice back to normal. "In that part of my world, the people speak like that. When I moved to another country, I was lucky enough to pick up the accent I use now really easily. Sometimes my old one shows up, like if I'm really stressed or angry."

"Okay, ha-ha.' Vanitas muttered. He was about to snap off some comeback when the ground shook. He jumped out of the way as an object sailed past him. With a crack, it embedded itself into the tree that they had been sitting in.

Stuck a good few inches in was long throwing knife, its blade gleaming. Cautiously, Vanitas pulled it out of the wood.

"Uh... isn't that…" Tegan stared, wide-eyed, at the knife.

"For crying out loud." Vanitas sighed. "Now what has that idiot, Salem, gotten himself into?"

Tegan looked in the direction of the Bailey. "It came from over there. Come on!"

* * *

**Vanitas: So now I have to go picking up the pieces of whatever mess that Moron made?**

**Tegan: Oh be nice will you! I'm sure there's some logical reason. Right? *looks at L&DH curriously***

**L&DH: *snores* Zzzzzz...Huh! Sorry what?**

**Tegan: Not getting much sleep, have you?**

**L&DH: Not really, but it's not like i have school tomorrow, so who cares. Anyway, thanks for tuning in everyone! the story couldn't have gone this far (even if it is only the seventh chapter) without you! BYE!**


	8. The New Vessels

**L&DH: Woohoo! i got this one out quickly!**

**Tegan: so now we get to see what's up with Say, then?**

**Vanitas: Great, dealing with the idiot...**

**Angelique: hehe. L&DH does not own Kingdom 'earts or Final Fantasy. She just owns us OCs and zis story. Enjoy, mon amies!**

* * *

The two kept running until they reached the Bailey. Just outside the metal gate, the sound of metal clashing could be heard.

"Get back here, you punk!" Salem's voice called out.

"You run like a warthog!" another voice replied.

Stopping just outside the entryway, Tegan paused and looked at her companion. The two exchanged glances and summoned their weapons, just in case.

_ Well, here goes nothing._ Tegan thought. She peered through the gate and saw nothing. "Coast is clear…for now."

The two walked in, eyes peeled for their missing comrade. As Vanitas neared the first balcony another knife shot past, almost hitting his nose!

"Shit!" Vanitas launched himself backwards, knocking into Tegan. The redhead sighed and picked up the knife.

"You're quite the magnet for these things, aren't you?" Vanitas shot her a glare.

"Shut up."

As the two neared the balcony, warily, they looked over the edge. What they saw shocked them.

"What the-?"

"Salem!"

Down below them, Salem was standing with a knife pressed up against someone's throat. And not just any someone, but a young boy; he looked about seven! The boy's back was to them, but he had thick, messy hair in an odd dark red color. It was cut short and had a few curls sticking out in some directions. His clothes consisted of black and red as far as she could tell; a dark red T-shirt with a pair of black shorts.

Tegan lept over the edge. "Salem, what are you doing!?"

The other teen looked up, shocked to see her there. The little boy noticed her too.

"Please!" he cried, eyes brimming with tears. "_Silvou plait, mademoiselle_! Ze big purple-haired weirdo is 'urting me! I'm scared!"

Tegan dismissed her halberd and rushed up, yanking the little boy out of Salem's hands. His tears spilled over as he cowered behind her and sobbed into her jacket.

"Shh there, there little guy. It'll be okay." She sent a harsh glare Salem's direction. "Salem what the heck is wrong with you? You can't just try to knife a kid!" Her voice rose in outrage. Oh yeah, her "Mama Bear" mode was in full swing now…

"Say what!?" Salem cried. "You've got to be kidding me, Doll Face! He attacked me first! That little runt tried to kill me!" He waved his hands around like a lunatic.

Vanitas walked up and looked at the boy.

"I don't see anything he could attack you with, Say." He pointed out.

"What! Vanitas, why are you defending him? You hate kids!"

"I'm not defending anyone, dumbass! I'm just saying that I don't see how a kid less than half your height could possibly try to kill you!"

While the two boys went at each other's throats (verbally, of course) Tegan knelt down to comfort the boy. His sobs had died down, but his was still sniffing. It was kind of odd; Tegan couldn't really tell what color his eyes were. Just before she could pinpoint the color seemed to change into something else. Odd…

"Hey, its okay, kiddo. I'm not gonna let Salem hurt you." she comforted. While he rubbed his eyes, Tegan noticed a cut on his neck. Mentally cursing Salem, she dug around in her pockets for a band-aid.

"Here we go. All better?" The boy nodded after she put on the bandage.

"_Merci_, miss." He smiled. As Tegan leaned forward and ruffled his hair, the boy's eyes widened. "Miss, why do you 'ave that funny mark? It looks like it 'urt getting it…" Tegan looked down at her Brand.

"Oh, this was just something I got a little bit ago. It's a little hard to explain but it doesn't really hurt that mu…"

Tegan looked at the boy's eyes and immediately felt dizzy. The world around her was spinning like a top and she had no idea why. It was like getting off of one of those centrifuge rides at the carnival.

"W-What the? What…happening?" Tegan clutched a hand to her head and fell forward, bracing herself with her other hand. She swayed a little as everything spun really fast. Sounds meshed together with her surroundings. Then a voice broke through the haze.

"Oh my, Miss. Maybe you should take a nap. You don't look to good…"

Back with the boys…

"Oh yeah? Well your mother is nothing more than a useless lump!"

"…Dude first off, that didn't even make any sense. Secondly, I was created from Darkness; I don't have a mother, moron."

"I…Well you…Hey, wasn't there something else we were doing?" Salem asked. Vanitas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and mumbling about purple-haired idiots. He was stopped in mid-rant when he heard laughing behind him. In fact, both he and Salem straightened up at the unusually squeaky laugh.

"Ahahaha! You imbeciles are 'ilarious!" a voice cackled. "And you led ze prize straight to me! MORONS! AHAHAHA!"

Turning around, Vanitas glared at the boy. "What was that, you shrimp? I know you didn't just call ME a moron!"

"Vanitas!" Salem shouted.

"What?" He looked in the direction that Salem was pointing and his eyes popped. Had his ego not gotten in the way, he would have noticed it sooner.

On the ground, behind the kid, was a form covered in green. Tegan. She looked unconscious, but there wasn't a scratch on her. The boy started to cackle again.

"_Merci_, simpletons!" He thanked with a two-fingered salute. "You just made my job a 'ell of a lot easier for me. You 'ave my most 'eartfelt thanks!"

Darkness swirled around the boy, changing his appearance somewhat. Now instead of the simpler clothes he wore before the boy was cloaked in a black and gray cape over his shirt, with a leather belt around his middle. The buckle of the belt and the fastener of his cape were the same image, a red crystal with a stripe of black down the middle, like two demonic eyes. His shorts were replaced by denim jeans with the bottoms rolled up, and he wore red and white sneakers and a pair of black wristbands. But that wasn't all.

One of his eyes was red. The other was an evil gold. Almost like…

_ Xehanort!_ Vanitas thought. _No way, that old man got a kid as a vessel? That's pathetic, even for him!_

"What do you want, kid?" he hissed. "Let the girl go, now, or I'll have to punish you." The boy cackled again, holding his arms out in challenge.

"Oh I'm SO scared!" he taunted. "Anyway, I gotta go. Ze Master will be wanting 'is prize soon." He held out his hand and a creature appeared next to him. It looked like an elephant with a mostly purple body and a big symbol on its head. The eyes glowed red and for a second, Vanitas almost thought it was one of his Unversed. The creature stooped down and picked Tegan up with its trunk.

"No way!" Salem exclaimed. "How can this kid use Dream Eaters outside the Sleeping Worlds?!" He pulled out a few of his knives and crouched into his fighting stance.

"Salem, an update would be great about now. What is that thing?" Vanitas asked. He was answered by the boy.

"Dream Eaters. Creatures that are ze Sleeping Worlds' equivalent of ze 'eartless. Or ze Nobodies…Mine 'appen to be ze Nightmares, devourers of everything good in a dream! Now if you'll excuse me…" He leapt up onto the Nightmare's head with ease. "_Au revior_ losers!"

The Nightmare turned around and started to walk off, leaving the two teens to stare at each other.

"You see? I told you he was a messed up little kid."

"WHAT!"

Without warning the boy appeared in front of Salem, floating off the ground so he was eye-level with the purple haired teen. Salem, shocked, backed up before readying his knives again. The boy's eyes flamed with hatred.

"I AM NOT A KID!" he screamed. "I am Dante Versailles, ze Twelfth Vessel of Master Xehanort! And I will not let you talk to me like that!"

"What are you gonna do about it, shrimp?" Vanitas taunted, Void gear ready for battle. The boy, Dante, smiled malevolently.

"I'm glad you asked…"

Holding out one hand, masses of red energy collected around it. With a jolt of dark electricity, a massive scythe appeared in his hand. It was easily twice as tall as the wielder, but he held it with such ease that it could only be the doing of Xehanort. Its blade was blood red and black, with another of those eye crystals and a jagged blade at the bottom of the pole. It really did look demonic.

Dante swung the scythe in a wild arc, nearly taking off Salem's head. Luckily the teen had reacted quickly, teleporting back after only receiving a nick above the eye. Before he teleported he managed to kick the child, sending him skidding backwards. Hovering up in the air, he hurled knives and needles at the boy.

By using the scythe like a baseball bat, Dante knocked the projectiles away harmlessly, leaving him wide open. Vanitas slashed Void Gear at his side and pelted him with attacks. The two managed to parry each others blows with ease.

"Get lost!" Dante shot a ball of black fire at Vanitas, who rolled out of the way. The blast hit a wall, engulfing it in darkness.

_ Okay, time to pick up the pace,_ Vanitas thought.

"Time Splicer!"

The ravenette dashed at the boy with lightning quick motions. With his speed boosted, Vanitas managed to get in some hits when Dante couldn't keep up. Appearing in the air above the boy, Vanitas brought his Keyblade down that would finish the kid for sure.

That is until someone intercepted his attack. The sound of metal on metal echoed through the Bailey as an unknown adversary blocked Vanitas with his own blade.

The figure kicked him aside and sent Vanitas into a wall. Dante let out a shout of protest.

"10, what ze 'ell!" he cried with childish outrage. "Stay out of my fight, you dumbass!"

Vanitas looked up to see a taller figure, shrouded in the cloak of the Organization, standing in front of the boy. He was of a muscular judging from the cloak and carried a peculiar, black and blue sword. An eerie light surrounded the blade, making it vanish and converting into a large gun. The double barrels were pointed right at Vanitas.

"Back off of the kid, Reject." The figure's voice was cold but just as odd as its weapon. Undoubtedly male, it seemed to echo. Two distinct voices came from him, like he was being overshadowed.

"Who the hell are you?" Vanitas spat. The figure ignored him and turned to Dante.

"Playtime's over, 12. Now grab the girl and let's report back." Dante sighed dramatically and dismissed his scythe. Snapping his fingers caused the Dream Eater to appear, with Tegan still wrapped in its trunk. The other figure, 10, held up a hand and a Corridor appeared.

Vanitas struggled up while Salem rushed at them.

"Not on your life, Host freaks!" the mage yelled. He launched himself at 10, who responded quickly. Using his gunblade, he blocked Salem's roundhouse kick and flung him back.

"Nice try, Halfling." He taunted. The two turned to enter the portal.

"I do not think so!"

An object flew down from the sky and zoomed past Vanitas in a colorful blur. The thing slashed through the Dream Eater, destroying it and carrying off Tegan.

"Blizzard!"

"Fire!"

"Thunder!"

Three spells came out of nowhere and exploded around the two enemies. Dante let out a shout (and probably some swear words in French) while his partner said nothing. Vanitas looked up in confusion. _Where did those come from?_

Two figures landed in front of him, while others appeared before Salem.

"You okay, Vanitas?" Lea held his Keyblade in front of him as he looked at the perplexed ravenette behind him. Next to him, Riku held a hand out.

Vanitas pushed it aside and got up. "I'm fine." Looking over, he saw Sora help Salem up while Kairi healed him. "What are you doing here?"

"You two were taking for ever, so we came to find you." Lea grinned cheekily. "Friends stick together, got it memorized?"

"Dammit to 'ell!" The two turned to see Dante, steaming with rage and screaming at the sky. "Leave me alone, Angelique!"

"Angeli…" Vanitas looked up to see the white-haired girl from earlier, riding high in the sky on some sort of flying horse.

"Dante Angelo Versailles." Her voice was low, like a mother scolding her children. "I look for you everywhere and 'ere I find you, causing trouble with zese fools. I thought our father taught you better, _mon frère_." Dante's face screwed up in rage.

"Shut up! You're not ze boss of me, you idiot! Leave me alone!" He turned around and ran through the portal. His partner, 10, shrugged and turned to them.

"I think it's obvious that this won't be the last of it." He drawled. "We'll be back for the girl. So until then, Keywielders, Reject, Halfling…" He turned around and walked through the portal, it closing up behind him.

"I'm starting to hate that guy already." Vanitas grumbled. He dismissed Void Gear as Angelique landed.

She slid off her horse and stroked its neck. "_Merci_, Apollymi. Good girl."

She walked around to the horse's side and pulled something off of it. Wait, someone…

"Tegan!"

Vanitas and Salem rushed up and assisted the girl with pulling their friend off. As they laid her on the ground, Vanitas noticed something amiss. Her face was contorted in fear and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Small, whimpering noises rumbled in her throat.

"What's wrong with her?" Vanitas hissed. He noticed how her hands kept twitching and didn't like it. Angelique sighed.

"Dante, you little fool…" she said mournfully. "Why must you do this?"

"What are you talking about?" Salem asked.

"In order to explain zis, I must go back a bit." Angelique knelt down by Tegan. "The boy you just met, Dante, is my younger brother. We are not normal people by any means, you see. We are Sleep Mages, those with ze power over ze world of dreams."

She held out her hand and in it a staff appeared. It was long and slender, made of silver with lots of small metal rings attached to large one at the top.

"I am ze Witch of Dreams. People just call me ze Dream Witch." She continued. "I control ze aspects of pleasant dreams, aided by my companions, ze Spirit Dream Eaters. It is my duty to banish nightmares and bring peace to those in sleep.

"My brother, Dante, was training to become a Dream Wizard. But something 'appened and 'e became inexplicably evil. Instead of making good dreams, Dante became obsessed with the Realm of Nightmares. My brother left 'ome and joined ranks with zat man, zis Master Xehanort. I 'ave been tracking 'im down for months now. And now I find 'im like zis." She pressed her hands to her head with grieving eyes.

"Like this?" Sora asked. "What do you mean?"

"The kid's gone to the Dark side, smart one." Vanitas scoffed. "He became a vessel for Xehanort…But what does this have to do with Tegan? What did he do to her?" He fixed the so called "Dream Witch" with a pointed glare.

"My brother 'as become ze Nightmare Warlock." Angelique sighed. "It is only natural zat, in order to subdue 'er, Dante sent Miss Tegan into a Nightmare. I mean look at 'er." She gesture to Tegan's horror-filled face. "Does she not look like she is trapped within a Nightmare?"

The other looked down at Tegan. What ever that nightmare was, it was a real dozy. Her face was really grim now, eyebrows furrowed deeply and her mouth twisted in pain. Her head kept turning back and forth and her whimpering became moaning.

Angelique, who looked grieved by this sight, held her hand over Tegan's head. She was about to put her two forefingers down on her forehead when a small light appeared over Tegan's chest. Her face seemed to smooth out. She relaxed visibly and her moaning died down. Angelique gasped and looked down with wide, red eyes.

"What did you do, Angie?" Salem asked, amazed. "She looks fine now."

"I…I did not do zis." Angelique puzzled. "I must touch a person to relieve zem of their nightmares, but I did not. Odd…" She placed her hand on Tegan's and closed her eyes. "Something else 'as disrupted ze nightmare. I do not know what it is, but I shall see if I can awaken Miss Tegan. _Un momant s'il vous plait._"

While Angelique worked with Tegan, Vanitas and Salem stared with interest. Salem shifted his head slightly and the two moved silently away from the group.

"What do you make of this, Vanni-boy?" Salem asked. His friend shrugged.

"Not sure. So far, Xehanort has been gathering an odd group of saps for vessels, including a little kid. And that other guy, he seemed…off. Something wasn't right about him. I think he was trying to disguise his voice."

"Yeah, but why? And why do they want Tegan? I don't like this at all, Vanitas. You heard what he called us, right?" Vanitas nodded grimly.

"'Reject' and 'Halfling'…Shit. That's not good, Say. They were dropping hints. They know what we know."

"Well of course they know about me." Salem scoffed. "They were the ones who screwed me up. But my question is how much do they know about YOUR baggage. If they know everything, I don't know how well I'll be able to keep it up, Van." Salem's dark eyes clouded with worry.

Vanitas glared at the ground. Of course there was _that_ problem. The one only Salem knew about. If anyone, especially Xehanort, found out about it, he would be screwed. 100%, not a single hope, screwed.

"It just means," he said quietly. "That we need to be careful. We find a way to stop the process. And I need to be extra careful when Vessels are around…"

Salem nodded. "Like I already said going into this, I've got your back Vanitas…"

* * *

**Tegan: *asleep on a couch* Zzzzzzzzz**

**Salem:hehe...*sneaks up and pulls a can off whipped cream from his pocket* this should be fun.**

**Vanitas: What are you doing, you idiot.**

**Salem: AHHH! *drops the can and jumps over the couch* Dammit Vanni-boy, you scared the hell out of me!**

**Dante: Not only zat. but you scream like a little girl. *snickers***

**me: *sighs* You all are insane...**

**Angelique: I mean no dissrespect, but are you not insane as well?**

**me: touche. well, that's it for now! thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed it!**

**Dante: I didn't.**

**Salem: No one was taling to you, Shrimp.**

***Dante hits Salem over the head with his scythe, knocking him out***

**Dante: Later, losers! *poofs out***

**me:...well, bye guys!**


	9. Off to New Worlds

**L&DH: Welcome , ladies and gents, to the next chapter!**

**Salem: So what now, Light?**

**Vanitas: Yeah. Is Freckles over there gonna wake up yet? *jerks thumb over to where Tegan is sleeping***

**Tegan: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz**

**Angelique: Well, she was put under a sleep spell. This can be expected...*watches Tegan snorring loudly, eyebrow quirked* It is natural for 'er to snore this loudly?**

**L&DH: Yeah, when she's out like a light. Anyway, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the like. Otherwise, I would be rich, Vanitas would be a good guy by now, and Xigbar would be pwned bigtime by now. I just own the OCs.**

* * *

Tegan stumbled around in the dark. She couldn't see anything, couldn't feel anything. Where was she? What happened?

_ Last thing I remember,_ she thought,_ I was with that boy. Damn, what happened?_

"Hello! Hello, anybody here?"

_ Tegan…_

A ghostly voice called out to her from the dark. Her head jerked around, trying to find the source of it.

_ Tegan…come over here, Tegan…_

Tegan felt her legs move against her will. Pulled by some unseen force, she wandered until she came upon a bright light. It floated aimlessly and pulled her to it like a magnet. For some reason it called to her.

_ Come into the light Tegan…Come find me…_

Tegan's finger barely touched the light when it exploded around her. Now she found herself in that white hall once more. The door was still there with its chains and lock, but she wasn't alone. A person stood in front of the door. A boy with black hair wearing red and black clothing.

"Vanitas?" Tegan called. The boy turned around and smiled cockily at her.

"Bout time you showed up, Freckles. What took you so long?"

He walked up to her. Tegan looked at him suspiciously.

"Van, what are you doing here?" she asked. "More importantly, where IS here?" The ravenette shrugged.

"Hell if I know. I was hoping you would tell me. I think something's up with the door."

The two turned towards the mysterious door. The chains seemed to glow slightly. But it was the lock that interested Tegan. Looking closer at it she noted how the shapes on it seemed a bit odd. Three stars and a heart, all carved into the padlock. The heart had another shape in it, a rose carving.

"I wonder if those are supposed to be keys…" she wondered. "Those stars… I wonder…"

She pulled out her Wayfinder and held it up against one of the slots. It looked like it would fit. She placed it in one of the slots and heard a small click.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "Wayfinders! That's the key!" Tegan bounced on her heels as her mind whirled. One mystery solved. Now she needed two more Wayfinders. Then she might be able to see what's in this room!

A dark chuckle made her freeze. Slowly, she turned around and was pushed against the door. The chains pressed painfully into her back as a hand closed around her throat and lifted her up.

"Agh…W-why?" she choked. Vanitas smiled evilly.

"What?" he asked with mock innocence. "You can't say you didn't expect this. You of all people know what I am. Or did you think a few words would really change that. Man, talk about pathetic!"

As Tegan struggled Vanitas pressed down harder on her throat. His eyes glowed with evil intent as he leaned forward. His face was close to hers as she gasped for breath.

"I'm pure Darkness," he whispered into her ear. "And that much will never change…Well; it's been fun, Freckles." His eyes narrowed. "But now I think it's time to stop playing 'friends'."

Tegan felt a sharp, sudden pain coming from her chest. Looking down, she saw Void Gear stabbing clean through her heart. Looking weakly up, Tegan saw blank, emotionless gold eyes starring back at her.

"Later, loser. Wish I could stay but-"

"Oh no you don't!"

Something slammed into Vanitas, knocking him away. Tegan slumped forward and gasped as the Keyblade jerked out of her chest. It was strange. There was immense pain, no doubt, but she wasn't vanishing. Void Gear got her heart, so why wasn't she disappearing?

A figure landed in front of Tegan, pointing a Keyblade at her. A beam of light shot out from it and headed directly to her heart. There was a click, and then everything faded.

When she opened her eyes again, Tegan was standing in a circular room. The walls were all white and chains flashed along them, like a roll of film. In front of her were a large white chair and a smiling boy sitting in it.

"Ven!"

The young Keyblade wielder grinned.

"Hey, Tegan. Glad I got to you in time." He hoped off his chair and walked toward her. "You feel okay? Not hurt are you?"

"Um...No. Ven, what's going on?" she looked around. "Is this like last time, when you and Xion helped me?"

"Yeah. I was worried; I didn't think I would make it in time to help. You were in a Nightmare, Tegan. Luckily, my heart heard it and I came to help!" He put his hands behind his head and smiled. "Good thing too. That was a nasty one."

Tegan lifted an eyebrow. She was in a Nightmare, but how? And what did he mean by…

"Your heart? What do you mean?" she asked. "Why would your heart hear? It's in Sora."

Ven shook his head and held up Tegan's Wayfinder. She gasped and snatched it from his hands, clutching it to her heart.

"First things first." He sat back down on his chair. "I'm not exactly sure. It happened before, but Xion had a theory about it. She thinks that you can connect to hearts thanks to your Anima powers."

Tegan nodded.

"But how did I connect with you?"

Ven smiled brightly. "I think it's because you connected with Vanitas. By making friends with him, you gained access to the other side of his heart, me…Speaking of Vanitas, that nightmare of yours was kind of weird…"

Tegan made confused sounds and looked at him. "What? I had a nightmare that I was at some door and Vanitas attacked me. Why doesn't that make any sense?"

Ven leaned back in his chair and frowned. He looked like he was deep in thought.

"The Nightmare Vanitas said that he was pure Darkness, but he isn't. I can sense Light in his heart…"

Tegan nodded. "Yeah, me too. But where did it come from?"

Ven shook his head. "You know, I'm not really sure. When we fought, I could sense a tiny speck of Light in there somewhere. I suppose that was one of the reasons why the X-Blade wasn't completed but…" Ven's mouth opened wide from a yawn. "Huh. Looks like I'm going back to sleep for now. Stay safe Tegan. You are REALLY important in what's coming up."

As Tegan felt her vision blurring, she heard Ven call out one more thing.

"Oh! And keep an eye out for the Path-"

….

….

Tegan opened her eyes and let out a shriek. Bolting upright, she knocked heads with a certain Dream Witch who had been hovering over her.

"_Sacre bleu!_" Angelique cried, attracting the attention of everyone.

"Tegan!"

The group all rushed around.

"Are you alright, Tegan?" Kairi asked as she helped the girl up. "You've been out for a while now."

Tegan looked around and saw that she was back in the castle. After assuring everyone that she was fine, Tegan was filled in on what had happened. She was surprised to learn about Angelique's powers, shocked to learn about Dante, and fascinated by the fact that the Vessels had been after her.

_ I wonder what they need me for._ She wondered. She jumped when a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Boo!" Turning around, she glared at the smiling face of Salem.

"You're here too? I thought you were still sore about everything." The boy shrugged.

"Eh, live and learn." He said nonchalantly. "I get over things pretty quick nowadays…But that's not the point. Check out what I found while you were out, Sleeping Beauty!"

Salem pulled out a slender, blue metal object and Tegan grinned.

"Rainfell!" she exclaimed. "You found Aqua's Keyblade!" Salem swelled with pride.

"You bet, I'm just that awesome!" A snort of laughter burst his ego-sized bubble.

"Yeah, right." Vanitas rolled his eyes. "All you did was fall through the wall it was hidden behind. If anything, I'M awesome for finding it in the rubble."

While Salem argued with Vanitas over bragging rights, Tegan noticed someone missing.

"Hey, where's Lea?" she asked Sora and Riku.

"He left." Was Riku's reply.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to do some searching." Sora expanded. "Lea's more of a recon guy in our group." Tegan nodded and looked over Rainfell.

She felt immensely honored to be able to look at it. Out of all the Keyblades, this was perhaps Tegan's favorite. Cautiously, she bent down to pick it up, unaware of the many sets of eyes on her. Her hand grasped the handle and lifted it up gingerly. Many brows went up as they all thought the same thing. Why hadn't the blade vanished from her hand?

"What in the…" Tegan looked at the Keyblade suspiciously. Salem caught her confused look and chuckled.

"Confused, aren't you?" he asked. "Why is the Keyblade remaining in your hand, you wonder. Well Tegan, my Anima friend, let me show you."

Salem stood in the center of the room, hands poised like an entertainer. He twitched his left hand and a small knife shot out of his sleeve. It was mostly purple and reminded Tegan of something, she just couldn't figure out what.

"Observe." He gestured to his knife. "Now there is nothing up my sleeve…And presto!"

Salem ran his other hand against the knife, palm sliding down the flat of the blade. Light surrounded it as the knife grew drastically. He tossed it up in the air and when it came down it was a Keyblade!

"Woah!" Sora cried. "How did you do that?!"

Salem grinned.

"Easy. You see, for centuries the Anima and Keywielders had fought and lived together in harmony. Eventually it got to the point where their cultures, fighting styles, and people blended together. Keywielders gained Anima powers; Anima were chosen by the Keyblade. Soon the Stigma, our weapons, gained a unique ability. An Anima's Stigma could become a Keyblade in order to perform certain tasks. This is why Keyblade wielders can use a Stigma, and why Anima can wield a Keyblade. And that concludes Salem Kurokami's History Lesson."

He dismissed his weapon and bowed. While some, like Vanitas and Riku, rolled their eyes, the others stared at him with amazement. Angelique clapped good-naturedly while Sora was begging for a shot with the knife. Tegan and Kairi just stared at the Rainfell.

"You know, I wonder…" Kairi shot Tegan a devilish grin. Tegan returned it whole-heartedly.

"Wanna try?"

The two girls summoned their weapons, Kairi holding her Keyblade patiently while Tegan stared at her Saving Grace.

"Hey Witch-man," she called. "How does one go about this?" Salem postured with the air of an old sword master.

"One must become one with the blade, young grasshopper." He pretended to act "wisely" and stroke an imaginary beard. "You must become one with it, heart and soul. This is the key to proper Soul…"

"Haha, I think she get's it Salem." Kairi giggled.

Salem's eyes popped when he looked in the girls' direction. There they stood with triumphant grins; Destiny's Embrace in Tegan's hand and Saving Grace (in Keyblade form) in Kairi's. Salem muttered something about "upstaging, show-off redheads" when Vanitas cleared his throat.

"As much as I love seeing Say get his ass thrown off stage, shouldn't we get rolling?"

The others nodded and made their way out, saying good-bye to the Apprentices and giving their thanks. As they approached the square, Salem nudged Angelique's shoulder.

"So, Miss Dream Witch. What now for you?"

The witch snapped her fingers and was surrounded by colorful smoke. When it cleared, her clothing changed. The shawl was gone, replaced by a purple and white mini-dress that had shoulder guards and a bunch of belts around her midsection. Hanging from a sheath on the back of them was her staff and she wore long arm covers with zippers on them. Light purple tights and metal shoes covered her legs and a small item bag was strapped to one of them. Her hair hung in two neat braids. When seeing some shocked looks, she sighed.

"These are my normal clothes." She replied. "Zey are a little too flashy for what I was doing earlier, so I changed them. Now that I 'ave no need of them, I can return to the normal ones. Zey are more battle-ready, no?"

Angelique brushed some hair off of her shoulder. "I 'ave a feeling zat if I am to find and fix my brother, I must travel with all of you. May I have ze pleasure of zis?"

"Sure!" Sora smiled big.

"Of course, you need to rescue your brother!" Kairi exclaimed.

"The more the merrier!" Tegan announced.

And with that, Angelique Versailles became the next member of the group.

* * *

**L&DH: And so it begins! Keep your eyes out for the next chapter, where the gang finds their first adventure in one of my favorite worlds. I'll give you a hint though: it isn't Disney, but keep the word "Burton" in mind. ;)**

**Tegan: Thanks for the hand there Ven.**

**Ventus: No problem...Uh, Vanitas, Dante? What are you doing?**

***camera pans to Vanitas and Dante hunched in front of a TV***

**Vanitas: The Shrimp here bet me ten bucks that he could beat me on Marvel vs Capcom. **

**Dante: Don't call me that, Morron! Now take this! *KO's Vanitas' character***

**Vanitas: *jaw drop***

**L&DH: ...Well, what do you know. Dante beat Van, using DANTE. Who'd a thought...**

**Tegan: Well, well the shock of that pans over, thanks for reading everyone, and reveiws and opinions are always welcome! BYE!**


	10. Remains of the Day

**L&DH: Zzzzzzz *slouched over desk***

**Salem: Uh, Light? *waves hand in front of face* Light? Hey, guys, what's with her?**

**Tegan: Heck if I know. Just found her like this...**

**Angelique: It must be school, or something. That is why this chapter 'as been taking so long. *sees Dante poking Light with a stick* Mon frere! Stop that!**

**Dante: Non! *runs off, being chased by his sister***

**Tegan: *sighs* Van, you want to do it this time?**

**Vanitas: L&DH doesn't own KH, FF, or the current world we're in. She owns the others, but not me, Sora, or his gang. Read and Review. Or not, i don't care. Now if you excuse me...*pulls out a sharpie marker***

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A young man ran in a panicked frenzy through the forest. He was tall and painfully thin, with dark hair. His tuxedo was ripped up from encounters with trees. As he ran into one tree he took the moment to look behind him to see if his pursuer was still after him.

Sure enough, over the hill came a ghostly figure of a woman in a wedding dress. She walked slowly and gracefully after him, a beautiful sight to watch. Any other person would have been awe-struck, but the man only felt panic and fear. Crying out, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

He kept running until he made it to the bridge just outside his home town. Looking around, all was quiet. The man sighed in relief and turned around.

"AHHH!"

The woman stood right in front of him, appearing out of nowhere. She walked up to him, a smile on her lips as she gripped his shoulders and leaned forward. Crows and ravens circled around them like vultures.

"You may kiss the bride!" she whispered. Then everything went black as the young man fainted.

…

…

…

"Where are we?"

"Hell if I know."

Tegan looked around the crowded city they were in. Buildings loomed around them in cramped alleys. There wasn't a soul in sight and it looked a bit like a ghost town.

Everything had started out okay. The gang had just come upon a world and decided to investigate. Sora had been a little eager and rushed to land, but everyone had gotten separated it seemed. The group was split in half, more or less. So now it was Tegan along with Vanitas, Kairi, and Angelique who wandered around the town.

"I hope the others are alright." Kairi worried. Angelique patted her shoulder.

"Do not worry, _mon ami_." She reassured. "I am sure they are fine. I only wish I knew where we were at ze moment…"

Tegan shared that statement. Their surroundings looked familiar to her, which meant that they were probably in a movie that she knew, but she couldn't figure out which one.

"Man, everything looks all creepy…" she muttered. "It's like we walked into a Tim Burton movie…"

"Who?" Vanitas asked. Tegan waved her hand lazily.

"Tim Burton. He's a film maker back on my world. I love his movies but they can get kinda weird…Huh?"

She stared off down the alley with a blank stare. They others looked in that direction and all three jaws dropped.

"What?"

Down the alley, a young woman was struggling to support a young man. The man was unconscious and deathly pale, like he had just had the daylights scared out of him. But the woman was the eye-catcher in this picture.

She was very pretty, with long wavy hair and big eyes. She wore a pretty wedding dress, but it was ripped up. And the woman's skin was _blue._ Oh, and maybe I should mention that she was dead.

Bones peeked out from under her dress, showing off a skeletal leg, hand, and even half her ribcage. They could hear her bones rattle even from their ten feet away.

"What in the worlds?" Kairi exclaimed. She looked over at her friends and saw Tegan smile.

"Oh my god…" Tegan's smile grew wider as she watched the dead lady. "Oh my god! I know where we are! We're in the _Corpse Bride_!" She rushed down the alley, leaving her friends to exchange odd glances.

"Better follow her." Vanitas remarked. "Who knows what she'll get herself into."

Tegan slowed down as she neared the Corpse Bride. "Hello, miss! Do you need some help?"

The woman was about to reply when all of a sudden a group of Heartless appeared out of nowhere, along with some Nobodies. The Corpse let out a gasp.

"Run!" Kairi shouted as she ran up. She summoned Destiny's Embrace and took a swipe at a Soldier Heartless.

As the Corpse ran to hide, Tegan summoned Saving Grace. She swung it an arc at a small group of Heartless and took them out.

"Same some for me!" Vanitas front-flipped and smashed Void Gear into a Dusk. Spinning around he kicked away a Shadow, which was flung into Kairi's way.

"Fire!" A fireball burst from her Keyblade and incinerated the Heartless.

Meanwhile Angelique stood surrounded by Soldiers and Dusks. Rolling her red eyes, she summoned her staff and changed it into a long lance.

"Katra!" An Aura Lion appeared and slashed away at the enemies. Rushing forward, the Dream Witch thrust her lance through a line of Shadows, skewering them like a shish kabob. Twirling the shaft, she flung the creatures into the happily waiting auras surrounding her Dream Eater.

Soon the enemies were demolished and the Corpse Bride came out of her hiding place.

"Goodness!" she exclaimed. "Thank you so much! What were those things?"

"Heartless and Nobodies." Kairi replied. "Are you alright?"

The Bride nodded before peering at them curiously. "Good heavens! You're all alive! I'm terribly sorry; you must have been swept up when I came down here!"

The teens exchanged looks.

"Down here?" Kairi asked. The Bride nodded.

"I'm so sorry; this is the Land of the Dead. Which kind of explains this…" She indicated to her exposed bones with a giggle. "No matter, though. I'm sure someone down at the Ball and Socket can help. Why don't you all come with me?"

She pointed down the street to the building where she had hidden. Kairi and Angelique looked a little uncertain but Tegan nodded.

"Sure! I'm Tegan by the way. These are my friends Kairi, Angelique, and Vanitas." She pointed out the appropriate person and the Corpse smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Emily. Well let's go then. My husband is waiting."

While they made their way to the pub, Kairi whispered to the others.

"We're in the Land of the Dead?"

Tegan nodded. "Yeah. I recognize where we are. This happens to be one of my favorite movies, The Corpse Bride. Basically it's split into to halves: The Land of the Living and the Dead. From the looks of it, we've arrived in the beginning of the movie. Emily just picked up Victor."

"So what then?" Vanitas asked grouchily. "We're still missing half our group."

Tegan looked up. "Well…First we see if they're in the pub, it's kind of like the Land's City Hall in a way, so someone is bound to know something. If not, then the boys are probably in the Land of the Living, upstairs. If that's the case, we might have a problem…"

"What?" Emily asked.

"Oh! N-nothing!" Tegan smiled nervously.

The group walked into the pub and some of the felt immediately out of place. All around were skeletons and corpses. They were pretty much the only living things there. Oh wait, Victor was alive too. Speaking of which…

"By Jove!" a gentlemanly skeleton exclaimed. "We've got a live one!"

Emily and the teens rushed to Victor, who was just waking up.

"Looks like he passed out." Vanitas remarked caustically. Tegan nudged him in the side.

"Are you alright?" Emily asked. Victor promptly freaked out as the dead crowed around him. Vanitas watched with dry amusement, chuckling to himself.

"Jumpy runt, ain't he?" he smirked as Victor had encounter with Paul, the...er..._head_ waiter.

"How would you feel if you woke up among ze dead? And 'e is far taller than you are…" Angelique responded. She was a little freaked out by the roaches to pay much attention though.

"A toast then," a small Napoleon-ish skeleton shouted as he and a German corpse drank. "To the newlyweds!"

As cheers went around, Victor (along with teens whose names weren't Tegan) exchanged confused glances.

"Newlyweds?" Kairi asked, looking around. Emily sighed contentedly.

"Ah, in the woods you said your vows SOO perfectly." She smiled warmly at Victor and admired her wedding ring. Victor took one look at it and paled even more.

"I did?"

"He did?" Vanitas asked incredulously, earning another nudge from Tegan.

As Victor continued with the freak out, he stumbled around until he knocked into the two soldier skeletons. He tried to yank the sword out of the Napoleon, ended up with the whole package. As he swung the skeleton around he smacked Vanitas in the back of the head.

"I have a…A dwarf!" he shouted. "And I know how to use him. Now I want some questions. Now!"

"Answers, you damned idiot." Vanitas hissed, rubbing the back of his skull. "You mean ANSWERS."

"Er, right. I need answers. Where am I? What's going on here? And who are you?"

Emily looked a bit bashful. "Well, that's kind of a long story…"

"But a story it is…"

Everyone's heads turned to see a spotlight reveal a skeleton with a large lower jaw and a bowler hat. Tegan was pretty sure his name was Bonejangles.

"A tragic tale of romance, passion, and a murder most foul." He continued.

Music started up as more skeletons showed up, surrounding the gang. Vanitas was backing away, looking freaked out and disgusted, when Tegan stopped him.

"Hold it." She hissed. "They're just about to sing!"

"Even more reason to split!" Vanitas groaned.

"Hey! Give me a listen you corpses of cheer." Bonejangles sang. "Leastles of you who still got an ear. I'll tell you a story, make a skeleton cry. Of our own jubilicously lovely Corpse Bride!"

The whole pub broke out into song as skeletons started dancing. One of them grabbed Vanitas when he tried to run off, much to the ravenette's displeasure. Kairi laughed and swayed around with a pair of bone children, taking the fun in full swing. Angelique, who wasn't much for singing, hopped up on a barstool and clapped in time with the jazzy music. Tegan, who was singing along (she loved this song after all), found herself hoisted up on stage with Bonejangles.

"Lend a hand, Flesh Sista?" the skeleton asked. Tegan quirked an eyebrow at the nickname, but nodded.

"Let's kick it, Bone man."

"Well our girl was a beauty for miles around, when a mysterious stranger came into town." Bonejangles twirled around with Emily on the stage as Tegan sang. "He was plenty good lookin', but down on his cash. When our poor little baby, she fell hard and fast."

"When he daddy said no, she just couldn't cope." Tegan smirked and winked conspiratorially. "So our lovers came up with a plan to elope!"

As Kairi danced by, Tegan pulled the other red head up on stage with her. The two twirled around and sung the chorus.

"Die, die, we all pass away!

But don't get a frown, cause it's really okay!

You might try and run and you might try and pray,

But we end up the remains of the day!"

The song soon lapsed into the big instrumental bit. The musicians jammed on their instruments while everyone danced. Angelique found an old tambourine and beat along with the fellow at the piano while looking around. Skulls were flying everywhere, and it was total Jazz insanity!

Kairi and Tegan had moved their dancing to the floor where the two spied a flustered Vanitas trying to evade a bunch of dead folk. It looked like they were trying to get him to dance with them. Tegan smirked and nodded to Kairi, and the two went to work.

Dancing their way over, they swooped up Vanitas and made it back up to the stage. Kairi nodded smiled cheekily and pushed Vanitas into Tegan. The raven-haired teen was past given up, so he just let the redhead drag him around as Bonejangles took it from where they left off.

"So they conjured a plan, to meet late at night  
They told not a soul, kept the whole thing tight  
Now her mother's wedding dress fit like a glove  
You don't need much when you're really in love"

At this part Bonejangles was all over the place. He tried to use the bottom of Tegan's coat as a shawl but got kicked by Vanitas. After he, spun a few times with Kairi.

"Except for a few things, or so I'm told

Like the family jewels and a satchel of gold!

Then next to the graveyard by the old oak tree

On a dark foggy night at a quarter to three

She was ready to go, but where was he!"

A skeleton popped up behind Vanitas.

"And then?" it asked.

"She waited." Tegan answered in sync with Bonejangles.

"And then?"

Another popped up, and Vanitas glared.

"There in the shadows?" Tegan threw her arm around Vanitas and pointed. "Was it her man?"

"And then?"

Another showed up and Vanitas' eye was twitching erratically.

"Her little heart beat so loud!" Tegan clutched a hand to her heart and pretended to look faint.

"And then?"

At this point Tegan had to hold Vanitas back before he literally knocked the blocks off of the rapidly appearing skeletons. She moved up close and whispered.

"And then, man, everything went black…"

The lights cut off for a second before a spotlight showed Bonejangles on the piano, while Tegan and Vanitas had somehow appeared on top of the bar.

"Now when she opened her eyes, she was dead as dust

Jewels were missin' and her heart was bust!

So she made a vow lying under that tree

To wait for her true love to come set her free!

Always waiting for someone to ask for her hand

Then out of the blue comes this groovy young man,

Who vows forever, to be by her side

And that's the story of our CORSPE BRIDE!"

As the song reached its end, Tegan had drug her partner to the top of a circular staircase. With a smirk, she leapt onto the railing and pulled him on. The two sped down and jumped off. Lucky for them, some of the pub's patrons were prepared.

In a flurry of movement, the dead had grabbed on of the non-decaying tablecloths and stretched it out like a trampoline. The teens landed squarely on it and were bounced up in the air, Tegan laughing while Vanitas yelled odd, smothered curses.

"Haha! Let's do that again! That was awesome, right laddie?" Tegan bounced on her heels and laughed. Vanitas looked around him with a bored face.

"Oh, I don't know. The singing was kinda a turn off." Then he smirked and winked. "But I guess it was a little fun."

Tegan pouted and put him a headlock while the others just laughed. None of them saw Victor flee in a panic, nor the shadowy figure he bumped into on the way out.

"Well, well," the figure's feminine voice mused. "Looks like the pieces are in place. Now for the game to begin…"

**Vanitas: *sneaking up on sleeping Light, holding up the sharpie* Hehehe...**

**L&DH: *arm shoots out and flips him over desk, sits up and yawns* Nice try, Vanitas. What did you think that would accomplish anyway?**

**Vanitas: You made me go through that stupid musical number!**

**Tegan: *sees the confused look on L&DH's face* We just got to the Corpse Bride Light.**

**L&DH: Oh! Cool! But what can I say? I like that music number and it was the perfect chance to let Tegan mess with you a bit, Van~~~**

**Salem: So where are the boys and me?**

**L&DH: That'll be revealed in the next chapter, Say. You'll have to wait. Thanks for reading everyone! And let's here what you have to say about this first world! I wanna hear you feedback!**

**Everyone: BYE!**


	11. Connected by Shadows

**L&DH: hey, y'all! welcome back to H&S! today we have a very special instalment, don't we Salem?**

**Salem: we do? why? is somebody getting pied?**

**me: no...*facepalm* is pie the only thing you can think about?**

**salem: no, i just chose to. *summons pie and starts eating***

**me: *sigh* anyway, enjoy this chapter. I own none of the actual KH, FF, or Corpse Bride characters. the characters and this story are mine. Read and Review!**

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"Kairi!" Sora shouted. "Tegan! Angelique! Where are you guys?!"

Riku sighed. "Relax Sora. I'm sure they're fine."

"Yeah, but where are they?" the brunette panicked. So far he hadn't seen any of the girls or Vanitas. Along with Riku and Salem, Sora had been scouring the woods where they had landed. They had been combing the woods for about an hour and half. Having not seen a single sign of their friends and it worried him.

"VANNI!"

Riku and Sora jumped as Salem's voice came screeching from the trees above them. After getting over their near heart-attacks, the two watched Salem teleport from the tops of tree, swinging this way and that with a hand to his forehead. When he found nothing, the teen teleported down in front of the two.

"How do you keep doing that?" Sora asked. Salem ignored the question and looked around with currious eyes.

"Weeeeell then," he drug out. "I can only assume Vanitas isn't in the area if that didn't work. Usually if I call him that he's always there to kick my butt or something. He must be with the girls." Salem shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled. "That's good then. Two Keywielders, one Anima, and a Dream Witch. They'll be fine!"

Salem started walking off in some general direction, leaving Sora and Riku staring.

"Well?" He didn't even stop or turn around. "Come on dudes. Let's go find out where we are!"

Riku exchanged a glance with his best friend and sighed. Trudging after Salem, he dragged him back by the hood of his sweatshirt.

"I swear Salem; you have no sense of direction. There's a town over that way!" He pointed in the opposite direction of where Salem had been walking. Salem looked wide-eyed in the direction that he was pointing and laughed.

"Well whaddaya know, you're right Mr. Master." He started walking. "Let's go then!"

While the three made their way to the town, Salem noticed that Sora was still looking slightly worried. The mage smirked, knowing that he was worried about his precious Princess.

"Chill out, kid." He slapped Sora on the back. "Kairi is a big girl and she can take care of herself. And if that doesn't reassure you, Vanni-boy, Tegan, and Angie are probably with her. I can't speak for the girls, but I know Vanitas will look out for them."

Riku looked ahead. "You sure about that? I'm still not so sure that I trust him. I mean, he was Xehanort's apprentice."

Salem laughed heartily and stared up at the sky.

"That's true." He mused. "But you just need to get to know him better. In all honesty, it's not his fault. And I don't think he really knows what its like to get along with other people. From what it seems, he really hasn't had any up til now. Friends, I mean." Sora quirked an eyebrow.

"Really, but what about you? You seem to be on pretty good terms with him."

"I've known him the longest out of all of us." Salem sighed. "We were both in the Organization; me as a prisoner and Van as a member. I consider Vanitas my friend, but I don't know how he feels. He didn't seem too happy about the idea when we first met."

Salem thought back to that very faithful day.

*_Flashback, 11 years ago*_

"_Now Salem, there've been reports of weird monsters roaming around town. If you see them, don't egg them on, you hear? Keep yourself outta trouble kiddo."_

_ Salem had been trying his best to heed his father's warning. But as a rambunctious, curious six year old, it's kind of hard. He liked to mess around, even if that meant getting into trouble sometimes._

"_It's too bad Ienzo is sick." Salem muttered. "Now I don't have anyone to eat ice cream with today…" A mischievous smirk found its way onto the six-year old's face. "Well, I'm sure he wouldn't want me to miss out! Ienzo would want me to eat his ice cream for him!"_

_ The boy rushed off to the ice cream shop and got a hold of two of his favorite flavor pops: Sea-salt ice cream. At first he though it was a weird combo, but after trying it, Salem couldn't get enough!_

_ As soon as he set foot outside, Salem heard some noises coming from around the corner. It sounded like someone was fighting._

_ Huh, I wonder if Lea and Isa are trying to sneak in again, he thought. Grinning at the chance to see those two get thrown out, Salem crept around the corner. But what he saw wasn't Lea and Isa._

_ In the courtyard a girl with blue hair was fighting off some weird blue creatures. Some of them looked like bugs, but others were enormous. And for some reason, a big mouse in black and gray clothing was fighting with the girl. Both of their weapons looked like giant keys too._

"_Ahh!"_

_ Salem looked further down the steps and saw a young girl, about his age with red hair, being cornered by more monsters. Salem gasped. It was Kairi! He and Ienzo would play with her sometimes in the gardens around the castle._

_ Looking around, Salem spied some rocks and scooped them up. He rushed down and ran in front of Kairi._

"_Salem!" the redhead shouted. _

"_Kairi, go hide! Quick!"_

_ Salem hurled one of his rocks at the nearest monster. It hit the creature square in the head and sent it flying into a wall, where it dissolved into mist. The other creatures hissed and charged at Salem. He kept throwing his rocks until there were none left, and then resorted to using some magic he had picked up from reading one of Merlin's books. _

"_Fire!"_

_ A fireball, bigger than what should have been possible for a boy his age, incinerated the remainder of the monsters. Salem looked around, seeing that they were all gone._

"_Thanks Salem." Kairi said as she came out from her hiding place. Salem nodded and smiled._

"_It's okay. You're my friend, right? What would Ienzo and I do if you got hurt?"_

_ Kairi nodded and began to bound up the steps._

"_Hey, where you going?"_

"_To check on the nice lay who was trying to help me! I need to see if she is okay!"_

_ Salem watched the redhead race up the stairs and then frowned. Where did those things come from? And for that matter, what _were_ those creatures anyway?_

_ All these questions rolled around in Salem's overactive brain when he heard someone moaning. Fearful that Kairi had gotten hurt, Salem rushed to where he heard the noises. But once again, he was wrong._

_ Instead of Kairi was an older boy in a really strange black and red suit. He was on his hands and knees as he clutched one gloved hand to his chest and breathed heavily. A domed helmet rested by his other hand. The boy's ink-black hair, much like Salem's, spiked up in different directions._

"_Hey! Are you alright?" Salem rushed over and knelt down beside the teen. The mysterious stranger's head shot up and eyes of a strange, gold color glared at him._

"_What do you want?" he hissed. "Get lost, runt!"_

_ Salem glared back. "My name isn't runt! It's Salem Kurokami! And all I did was ask if you were alright!"_

_ The boy continued to stare at him with narrowed eyes. "What does it matter to you?"_

_ This made Salem tilt his head, making his own black hair fall partially in his face. He didn't know what the boy meant by that. Maybe he was just mad because he was hurt? Salem held out his hands._

"_Heal."_

_ A green glow surrounded the boy and his breathing slowed down. The boy leaned slowly on his heels and eyed the small boy with suspicion._

"_Why did you do that?"_

"_Because…" Salem blinked. "You were in pain. Why wouldn't I?" Salem frowned as the boy laughed dryly._

"_Stupid kid. Don't you know not to help out the bad guys?"_

"_You…Don't look like a bad guy." Salem knelt in front of the boy and peered closely at his face. One eyebrow lifted when the teen scowled._

"_You're dumber than you look, kid. Haven't you ever seen a bad guy before? I would think that I look the part."_

_ Salem shook his head. "No. You don't seem like a bad guy. You just look…" Salem tapped his chin while looking for the right word. "…Cold?"_

_ The boy's eyes narrowed and his scowl deepened. "What are you talking about?"_

"_Your eyes. They look cold." The small boy pointed to the golden eyes. "I heard once that eyes are a window to the soul. And yours look kind of empty and lonely; like you can't trust people…Hey. Do you have any friends?"_

_ The teen was taken aback, shoulders hunching and eyes widening more. What was with this kid and random questions?_

"_I…Don't need any." He said slowly. _

"_Everybody needs friends." Salem pointed out. "They help us see who we are…What's you name?"_

"_What's with you and the random questions kid?" the boy hesitated. "…Vanitas. Now will you leave me alone?"_

_ Instead, Salem jumped up and pulled out an item from his backpack. It was one of the ice cream bars. Quickly, he shoved it into the hand of Vanitas and pulled out the other. Holding it up, he closed his eyes and struck a pose._

"_Van…Vani…Vanitas! There we go!" he smiled. "We are now friends!" As he took a large chomp out of his ice cream, Vanitas' eyes popped._

"_What the hell!" he shouted. "I said I don't NEED any friends!"_

"_Too late." Salem replied in a grave voice. "Our hearts have been connected. I just made it so."_

"…_You are one freak of a kid, you know that runt?"_

_ Salem shrugged. "I've been called worse. Besides, having friends makes a person complete and eliminates loneliness! I don't like people looking lonely." Opening his eyes, Salem stuck out his ice cream and pointed it in Vanitas' face. "We are now friends. So if you ever need help, I will be there! I swear on the Light!"_

_ Vanitas snorted in disgust. "Yeah sure. Light, he says…"_

"_Hey! What have you got against Light?" Salem snapped. _

_ Vanitas leaned back and stared at the small boy with contempt. _

"_I don't have any Light. It's just as pointless as the idea of having friends. It all just makes you weak. And I am not weak!" He said it as if he were trying to prove something._

_ Salem frowned and copied the older boy's posture. "Boy are you wrong! Light and friendship, they make us strong! But, if you don't have any Light, then…" He was cut off by a large hand pushing down on his head, ruffling his hair. Looking up, he saw then dark-haired teen on his feet and staring with half-lidded eyes._

"_Look, kid. You keep saying that to yourself, but it's wasted on someone like me. Trust me. You might as well save it for someone who cares."_

_ Vanitas walked away, helmet in one hand and licking the ice cream pop in the other. A big portal of swirling mist appeared in front of him._

"_You're wrong!" Salem called. "Next time we meet, Vanni-boy, you'll see! I'll have lots of friends and I'll prove how strong it makes you!" He could hear the boy chuckle._

"_Sure you will. Let's hope for your miserable sake that day never comes…Salem Kurokami." And with that, the teen departed in the dark corridor, not knowing that he would encounter the young child again in the future._

Salem sighed. "Boy was that an odd day."

Riku peered at Salem curiously. "So did you prove it?"

Salem frowned and looked at the snow covered ground. Did he prove it when he reunited with Vanitas? No. As much as he hated to admit it, Salem was still reeling from the sudden betrayal of everyone he grew up with. Ienzo, Dilan, Aeleus, Even, Lea, Isa, Myde, and…His father…

"No, Riku." He said quietly. "I lost sight of my Light and became a totally different person…"

Salem furrowed his eyes as another old memory flashed back.

_ *Flashback, 4 years ago*_

_ Salem coughed up blood as he crashed into the wall of his cell, his head smashing painfully into the cement. His energy completely drained, he slumped down and clutched his chest._

"_You know, you really ought to consider how you talk to me, brat." A female voice sneered. Looking up, Salem glared at the Nobody in front of him, Larxene. His only response was to spit blood in her direction._

"_Why you little!" The Savage Nymph rushed up and slammed him into the wall again and pressed a knife up against his throat._

"_Do it." He spat. "Just get it over with and do us all a favor."_

_ He thought for sure that Larxene would do it this time too. He saw a manic glint in he green eyes before a voice snapped behind her._

"_Larxene! Enough!" _

_ The blonde dropped her knife and Salem and backed up slowly. A furry-filled scowl graced her face as she turned to see who had interrupted her would-be murder._

_ Salem looked up weakly. Outside of his cell, two figures stood and peered inside. One was tall, with long silver hair and odd, orange-gold eyes. He wore a black coat like Larxene, but Salem knew that he was the leader, the oh-so mysterious Xemnas._

"_Oh, so now you decide to grace me with your presence, oh mighty Mansex." Salem croaked. His gagged as Larxene sent another kick into his stomach._

"_Come on, Superior." She begged. "Just let me finish this punk off already!"_

"_Larxene, you have a mission to attend to. Go now." The Superior commanded._

_ Grudgingly, the female left and the Nobody leader stepped inside. Salem glared from his spot on the ground and noticed the other figure step in as well. This figure didn't wear the coat of the Organization. But Salem was sure he had seen him somewhere before._

_ The mysterious person was about his age and height, but had more muscle than Salem. He wore an odd black suit with gloves. The teen's hair was an inky black and his eyes were a cold golden color._

_ Salem's mind whirled as he recognized Vanitas. How was this even possible? It had been so many years from that day, but he looked exactly the same. What was going on?_

"_This is the punk then." Vanitas asked blankly. Salem noticed how one of his eyebrows tilted up, giving a slightly confused look to his face. Did Vanitas recognize him? No, it's been around ten years since that day. How could he? Beside Vanitas, Xemnas nodded solemnly._

"_Indeed. While we have tried many a time to convince him, Salem remains adamant in his position. So we do our best to help him change his mind…"_

_ This made Salem snap in cold fury. Finding inhuman stamina, Salem rushed up and tried to attack Xemnas with a wild shout. He never even got close. _

_ Vanitas summoned a Keyblade in a flash and slammed it into Salem. The force behind the strike sent him hurtling back into the wall for the hundredth time today, causing the wall to crack. As Salem slowly lost consciousness, he saw Vanitas hovering over him, starring._

_ His vision went dark with the image of those golden eyes flashing with recognition. He remembered him._

"Salem." Sora waved a hand in front of the boy's face. "Are you alright?"

Salem blinked and shook his head. He hadn't realized it, but when that memory hit him, he had stopped moving completely. He gave Sora an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, man. I guess I'm just going down memory lane…"

Sora nodded and the two caught up with Riku. As the three walked into a dull and dreary town, Salem couldn't help but think.

_ Vanitas and I, we are comrades, but we aren't linked by our Light. It's the Shadows of our hearts…_

* * *

**Salem: so that's what you meant.**

**me: yep. i wanted to explain part of you and Vanitas' relationship with each other. i find that backstory is very important in character development.**

**Vanitas: doesn't change the fact that he was one freaky little kid.**

**Salem: Say what you will, Vanni-boy. I'm just ahead of my time! My wisdom ecedes my age! I am OMNISCIENT!**

**Vanitas: *mutters with an eyebrow raised* you're also bat-shit crazy...**

**me: anyway. let me know what you thought about this chapter! **

**everyone: BYE!**


	12. Last stop for Land-o-Living Express!

**L&DH: *walks stumbling in with lots of books and junk* uhg! what a pain...*dumps it on the ground* Hey, Salem, lend a hand?**

**Salem: Sure thing, Boss-lady. Fire! *sets fire to the junk***

**L&DH: thank you. right, sorry it's been a while you guys. really, i am. *bows* school's been a total hassle lately and a major pain in the rear. luckily, it's almost summer so i should be able to write more of my stories and get stuff accomplished! horray!**

**tegan: finally! we've been waiting to get on with the show, Light!**

**dante: yeah! lazy bum!**

**L&DH: *sighs* you know, i'm actually to exhausted to deal with you right now, Dante...**

**tegan: *smirks evily* allow me...**

**dante: hey! what are you-?!**

***tegan walks out dragging Dante along with her***

**salem: where's she going?**

**L&DH: *shrugs* eh, probably off to find Angie. you know how Dante hates being around her. anyway, I still own nothing (except for this story, but that goes without saying right?)! all copyright and yada, yada goes to Square Enix, Disney, Tim Burton, and so on. enjoy the show!**

* * *

"Victor!"

"Darling, where have you gone?"

"Yo, Victor! Oley, oley, oxen free!"

After it was discovered that he had vanished, Tegan and the gang offered to help Emily find her new husband. So far they had covered the square with no luck.

"He's got to be around here somewhere." Kairi murmured. "But where?"

Tegan shoved her hands in her pockets and racked her brain. She had seen the Corpse Bride movie a thousand times, but the world itself was a lot bigger than she thought it would be. She also couldn't remember where the skittish man was hiding. So she marveled at the scenery as they wandered around.

Tegan had to give the film crew credit; the movie was pretty spot on with the town. While it was a little creepy being surrounded by dead people, it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would. She wished, however, that the same could be said for Angelique.

"Ooo, zis is nerve-wracking!" the witch moaned.

Angelique clutched her arms around herself and frowned with wide, panic-filled eyes. Her gaze kept shifting around as her body tensed, as if she expected to be attacked at any moment. Every little thing would make her jump with fright, from the blowing wind to the sound of bones rattling. Especially the bone rattling.

"Angie, are you alright?" Kairi asked, observing her odd behavior with slight worry.

"Non. I…I am not comfortable being in such a close proximity with ze dead. It is…Unsettling…Not to mention unnatural…"

Emily gave her a comforting smile. "No reason to be afraid dear. Contrary to how everyone thinks, when you're dead you become very pleasant. No one has grudges or anything of the sort."

"Oh sure, everything's all rainbows and butterflies." Vanitas scoffed. Emily smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Not quite, but you're close my boy. Everything is wonderful here. I'm sure once things have settled down, Victor will love it." She sighed dreamily.

"If you ask me," Emily's maggot friend (whose name, Tegan discovered, was Claude) said. "Your boyfriend's kind of jumpy." Emily sighed and shook her head.

"Technically, he's her husband." Tegan pointed out. "Not boyfriend. But where is Lover-boy anyhow?"

"Hey, I'll keep an eye out for him." Claude popped out of Emily's skull, nearly causing Angelique to faint.

"Claude!" Kairi reproached as she steadied her friend. Movement in the shadows by them caught her eye. "Hey, look! There he is!"

Victor saw them and the gang began a chase that led them all through the town. It took going down one alley way near the 2nd Hand Shoppe and a left at Ms. Widow's Coffin Lane for Tegan to recognize where they were going.

"Hey, hang a right you guys!" She forked down an archway that led to a massive hill. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Victor below them in a panic. Tegan bounded up the steps with everyone in tow. At the top of the hill, everyone looked around.

"Where'd he go?" Vanitas turned at the sound of a startled gasp. "Oh. There's where the coward went."

Tegan sighed exasperatedly as the two helped Victor pull himself up.

"You really should have used the stairs, Vic." She smirked. Once the man was up safely, Emily swept him up and let out a content sigh.

"Oh, this is beautiful! It takes my breath away!" she giggled. "Well, if I had any." She sat down on a long bench and motioned for the others to join her. Tegan sat next to Victor with Angie sitting cross-legged by her feet. Kairi perched herself on the side next to Emily while Vanitas leaned against the wall next to them.

"Look. I'm terribly sorry about what's happened to you, and I'd like to help. But I have to get home." Victor said.

"But this is your home now." Emily replied.

"But I don't even know your name."

Vanitas snorted. "Married a girl you don't even know? Way to go there, genius."

"Vanitas." Tegan facepalmed. He could be so impossible…

"Hey, I just speak the truth. I didn't ask to be the voice of reason here, Freckles."

"Anyway," Kairi interrupted before the two could start arguing. "Victor, this is Emily."

Victor nodded as Emily pulled out a wrapped box that rattled as its contents shifted around.

"I almost forgot, this is for you, Darling. It's a wedding present."

As Victor shook the box around, Tegan bent down to Angelique.

"Careful Angie." She warned. "I guess since you don't like it, this next part may come as a shock."

Before Angie could reply, Victor dropped the box with a gasp, spilling its contents in front of the Witch. Bones clattered all around and Angie's face went as white as her hair. The bones then knit themselves together to form the shape of a small dog, which barked excitedly and leapt up on Angie's lap. Before Tegan could stop her, Angelique let out a frightened squeak before slumping back in a dead faint.

"Hey now, get off her Scraps!" Tegan shooed the dog away and shook Angelique. "Oh geez…Victor, Emily, carry on with whatever. Kairi, Van, can you give me a hand here?"

Tegan slid off the bench and tried to lift Angelique up but the French girl was heavier than she looked. She tried to pull her up but the fact that she was out cold made Angelique's body slide around. When Tegan considered a new tactic, Angelique was lifted up by someone else.

"Are you out of shape or something?" Tegan glared at Vanitas' smirk, knowing he was trying to egg her on. "She's not that heavy, Freckles. Maybe you should hang out at a gym more often."

"Oh can it." Tegan snapped. "You have more muscle than I do. Now let's just get Angie up and moving so we can find a way out of here."

"Aye aye, ma'am." Vanitas mocked as he leaned Angie up against the railing, as far as he could get from the Corpse Bride and Scraps the dog. The three teen gathered around the Dream Witch and looked at each other.

"How do we wake her up?" Vanitas asked. Tegan shrugged.

"Beats me. She's not injured so a Cure spell is out …Where are smelling salts when you need them?"

"Hey, Tegan, give me your MP3." Kairi commanded. Tegan looked at her curiously but complied.

The redheaded princess unwrapped the ear buds and placed them in Angelique's ears and hit the power button. Cranking up the volume, some heavy metal music blasted out and Angelique jolted up with French curses.

"I knew that would work." Kairi stated bluntly and Tegan felt like sweatdropping. She reminded herself to never get Kairi mad. Bad things might happen…

"My goodness. What 'appened…" Angelique muttered as she rubbed her head. A yip from Scraps jolted her memory and she sat upright. "Skeletal dogs…Oh dear…Please, can we please get out of 'ere?"

"We need to find the boys first, Angie." Kairi reminded her as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Tegan. You know about this world right? How can we?"

Tegan sat back and crossed her arms. "The only way out is by going upstairs. I believe now's the time where we can get some help. We just need to…" She was cut off by a bark and a pile of bones pouncing on her. The others, minus Angelique, laughed as Tegan was knocked over by Scraps.

"Dears," Emily helped Tegan up. "We were just on our way to see a friend about going to the Land of the living. Would you like to come?"

The teens jumped up. That was their chance, now time to take it!

"Yes, please!" Angelique exclaimed. "Who is zis friend you speak of?"

Emily smiled and pointed to a tall tower nearby. "Elder Gutknecht."

…

….

"Elder Gutknecht? Hello?" Emily called. "Are you there?"

The group had just finished climbing up the huge flight of stairs to the study at the top of the tower. The stairs were ancient and creaked like crazy coming up, and a few times someone nearly fell through a hole in them. Cobwebs hung everywhere and Tegan was positive there were rats scurrying around. Not that she cared. She was winded from the climb.

"I'm starting to hate stairs…" she panted. "Worse than Yen Sid's…Where's…elevator?!"

At the top she flopped down, stomach first, onto the dusty floor and wheezed. It would seem that while running was one of her strong points, stairs were a whole different story…

"See what I mean? Gym, Tegan. Visit one." Vanitas teased. The redhead just growled at him, whacking him in the shin.

"Now zis is why I come well prepared." Angelique jumped off a broomstick, which changed back into her staff with a puff of colorful smoke. Sliding it back into its carrier, the witch knelt down to help Tegan up.

"Who is zis Elder Gutknecht any 'ow, Tegan?" the Witch asked curiously. Beside them, Kairi shook her head.

"Yeah, what's he like?"

Tegan pushed herself up. "You all'll see soon enough….Hel-lo! Anyone home?!"

Tegan's last shout startled Victor, who knocked into a stack of books. As he stumbled to pick them up, a pair of crows flew haphazardly into a lap. The light rocked, casting eerie shadows around the already poorly lit room. People bumped into each other as the shadow of a skeletal hand reached across the room.

"AHHH!" Angelique screamed as she hid behind Kairi, who kept her Keyblade hand at the ready. She didn't want to take her chances in case this was some sort of ambush.

Vanitas on the other hand, on an impulse, summoned Void Gear and made to rush at the shadow. Tegan grabbed his shoulder quickly and the two tumbled to the floor, a shower of dust shooting up in a puffy cloud.

"My goodness…." A creaky old voice coughed. "Are you alright, children?"

The two looked up and saw an ancient skeleton standing up on the podium in front of them. He was a wise looking old one, with a dusty pair of glasses perched on his nose and a wispy beard. Give him a blue robe and hat, and he might have been a skeletal Yen Sid.

"There you are!" Emily exclaimed. The old skeleton let out a wheezy chuckle.

"Oho, my dear, there _you_ are!" He smiled down at them.

"I've brought my husband, Victor. And some friends."

Kairi bowed politely. "Hello, sir. I'm Kairi, and this is Angelique, Vanitas, and Tegan."

Elder Gutknecht nodded. "How nice to meet you, my dear. It is a pleasure to meet such a well-mannered young lady. Now tell me, how may I help you all? It's not very often that I see the Living walk among the Dead."

"Well you see sir," Tegan addressed the aged skeleton as she brushed the dust off her knees. "We all need to go up to the Land of the Living. Can you help us?"

Elder Gutknecht stared at them curiously. With a puzzled frown, he made his way down the winding stairs of his podium.

"The Land of the Living? Now why, my dear, would you want to do that? Why go up there, when everyone's dying to get down here?"

Tegan let out a giggle at the pun the Elder had unintentionally made. She did like that phrase. When Vanitas stared at her, she shrugged.

"Please sir," Victor pleaded. "It means so much to me…Us."

Vanitas caught the slip up and transferred a glare to Victor. He wasn't sure he trusted this Victor person. He was far too spineless, weak. His constant jumping and freak outs got under his skin in a way that made Vanitas want to shove his boot into the man's back. Victor was going to have one hell of a tough life if he didn't learn to grow a backbone.

"I don't know. It's just not natural…"

Kairi walked up and grasped the Elder's boney hand. Gutknecht stared in amazement at the way she grasped the bone unflinchingly, and at the tranquility in her blue eyes. The girl was neither afraid nor anxious around the dead!

"Please, Mister Gutknecht." Kairi tried. "We just have to get back up there. We've been separated from our other friends and we need to find them. Can you help us?"

The Elder looked at Kairi, and then all the anxious faces staring at him, before patting the girl's hand reassuringly.

"Let me see what I can do…"

Gutknecht began to search through the massive piles of books, tossing some aside as he mumbled to himself.

"Now where did I put that book…Oh?"

The old skeleton turned to see an old, faded red book placed beside him. He peered up and saw the slightly nervous face of Angelique, shaking ever so slightly, as she tried to smile kindly at him.

"Um….Might zis, perhaps…be ze book?"

Gutknecht smiled kindly and took the book with gentle thanks. As he made his way back around the room, Angelique sighed in relief. A hand on her shoulder brought her to the attentive faces of her friends. Each one looked at her with curious expressions mixed with comfort and a little bit of confusion.

"I 'ave…Never been very comfortable around anything dead." She explained. "Once, when I was very young, I was accidentally locked in a mausoleum for a night. It was one of ze most terrifying nights of my life, and I 'ave been afraid of bones and skeletons ever since. I am sorry if I 'ave caused you any worry, _mon amies_."

"Its okay, Angie." Kairi gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Everyone has something they're afraid of. It's only natural."

"Right." Tegan nodded. "It's just another thing that makes us human."

"My children, if you are all ready."

The teens turned to find Victor and Emily standing before Elder Gutknecht, waiting patiently for them. Everyone rushed and got into place as the Elder held a rather large crow's egg in his hand.

"Now remember, when you want to come back, just say 'hopscotch'."

Vanitas raised an eyebrow and looked around curiously. "Hopscotch? That's it?"

The Elder nodded. "That's it."

And with that, he cracked the egg open, releasing a shower of some strange substance. It glowed gold and floated down like a fine mist that encircled everyone. Angelique gaped in wonder and Kairi caught some of the mist in her hands. Tegan looked around, wide-eyed.

"Incredible…" she whispered. "And to think I was nervous about this…"

Vanitas tilted his head and stared at her from the corner of his golden eyes. The look on Tegan's face was one of pure, child-like awe. Her purple eyes reflected the light from the gold mist as it swirled around them. Then she turned and gave him a one-in-a-million smile before going back to observe the mist.

That was when Vanitas felt an odd, unfamiliar sensation in his stomach. It felt almost…jittery? Like there was something fluttering around in it, but the feeling was gone in an instant only to be replaced by confusion.

_ What the hell was that?_ He wondered.

* * *

**Salem: wow, way to take it like a trooper, Angie. *pats her on the back* that's how you take one for the team!**

**Angelique: merci, mon amie. it is not easy. i assure you of zat... **

**Tegan: hey, I don't blame you. if it were me, i'd be scared outta my mind to. nothing to worry about. especially with what's coming soon.**

***Salem and Angelique look at Tegan questioningly***

**L&DH: ahh, you're refering to the scene where everyone is getting ready for the wedding, aren't ya? *claps hands together* i can't WAIT to write that chapter! anyways, thanks for writing guys! i'd love to stay, but i'm schedualed for live burrial by school projects, so i gotta fly!**

**Tegan: remember, reviews are always welcomed and appreciated!**

**Salem: any feedback ya got makes the world go round here!**

**Angelique: Merci, and ****au revoir!**


	13. Linking

**L&DH: hey guys, guess what? i'm officially on Summer vacation!**

**Salem: Woohoo! Party! *wearing party hat and waving around a noise maker***

**Tegan: Great! that means you'll be able to work on the stories more!**

**L&DH: Exactly, Teg! and without further ado, Angie?**

**Angelique: L&DH does not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Corpse Bride, or anything Disney. Zey belong to their respective owners. She does 'owever, own ze story. **

**Tegan: Read!**

**Salem: Review!**

**L&DH: and Enjoy!**

* * *

It was an odd sensation. One minute Tegan was standing one the floor of Elder Gutknecht's tower, watching the Haunting Spell take effect. The next minute she was falling out of thin air. It all happened so quick that she barely had any time to react and latched onto whatever was closest.

"AHH!"

Vanitas and Tegan screamed as they hit a snow bank, sending a shower of the white stuff flying up. When the snow had stopped falling, Tegan sat up in a daze and rubbed the ice from her eyes.

"Ow…" she muttered. "Anybody still alive after that?"

"Define 'alive'…" a voice grumbled from under her legs.

Glancing down, Tegan saw that Vanitas had landed flat on his face. He shrugged himself up, knocking Tegan's feet off his back, and cracked his neck. The bones snapped into place loudly.

"Have you ever noticed how being around you usually ends up with me in pain?" he grumbled. Tegan sighed and looked around.

Victor and Emily were a few feet away and Emily was doing her dancing bit. She spied a flash of pink crashing down from the trees. With a thump, Kairi tumbled down with Angelique, leaves and twigs clinging to their hair.

"Not exactly smooth sailing, huh?" the redhead asked.

"I could not agree more, _mon amie_…" Angelique replied.

The two girls rushed over to their friends and helped them up. Shaking the snow off her jacket, Tegan looked around, eyes wide.

"Hey, we're here!" she shouted. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Land of the Living!"

The others looked around at the snow-covered terrain. This certainly wasn't what they had expected. Sure it was winter and all, but did this place really need to look so…Dead?

"It's not that lively if you ask me." Vanitas remarked. "I've seen graveyards with more life than this dump."

Angelique scratched her cheek. "I must agree. Zis place is, well…"

"The Land of the Dead looked more alive than this place." Kairi finished. "It just seems…I don't know, off?"

Tegan nodded. Something just didn't feel right. The air seemed too close for her liking. Something at the back of her neck prickled, like static from rubbing a balloon on your head. Actually, it wasn't just that. It was as if something was pulling at her stomach, warning her about something.

Without warning, Tegan heard a shout. Saving Grace sprang into her hand as she and other others whirled around. And when they did, their eyes widened in shock.

Emily was standing in the middle of the glade, surrounded by monstrous creatures. Large, imp-like creatures almost as tall as Tegan circled around the Corpse Bride and made swipes at her dress. At the same time, strange white creatures circled counter-clockwise with fluid movements.

"Crap! Those are Novashadows!" Tegan cried.

"And Dusks!" Vanitas summoned Void Gear in an instant. Thankfully, no Unversed had showed up.

Without a word Angelique and Kairi rushed forward, weapons drawn. Kairi lunged to the right, slashing her Keyblade at a Dusk. The Nobody was knocked down but sprang back up like a coiled spring, launching itself at the Princess.

"Graviga!" Angelique shouted. The Dusk, along with a few other enemies, was flung up into the air. The Dream Witch leapt in front of Emily and slammed the pole of her staff between her palms.

"Dream Barrier!"

A glowing, multicolored aura surrounded the two just in time. A pair of Novashadows bounced off the shield to be slashed in half by Vanitas and Tegan. The pair landed neatly on the ground, back to back.

"Man, leave it to these guys to show up when they're not wanted!" Tegan growled.

"They're the bad guys, Freckles. It's their job; believe me, I know." Vanitas deadpanned. With a shout, he spun forward and kicked a Novashadows up in the air.

"Fire!" A dark fireball shot out of Void Gear, incinerating the Heartless within seconds. Without missing a beat, he sprang at another Heartless, stabbing his Keyblade through it and flinging it at a small group of Nobodies.

As a pair of Dusks tried to get him from behind, they met their ends by a swift stroke of a blade. Tegan smirked before sliding into another. Using her momentum, she swung her halberd around in an arc, slicing everything in her way in half.

"Assistance over 'ere, _s'il vous plait_!"

Tegan turned to see Angelique's shield being bombarded by a number of new enemies, Large Bodies and Samurai. Angelique was doing her best to keep them at bay, but her shield was getting weaker as the heavy-hitting Heartless slammed themselves at its surface. A tiny network of cracks began to develop.

"Angie!" Tegan shouted, rushing forward. What could she do? Headhunter was out of the question; it would shatter the barrier.

"Tegan, use a D-Link!" Turning around, Tegan looked at Vanitas.

The dark-haired boy was busy beating off some Samurai. Looking back, he met her stare with a glare.

"Stop gawking at me and use a damn D-Link! Dark Cannon should finish them!" he shot.

Tegan nodded and yanked her Wayfinder off of her belt and held it in her hand. How did this thing work anyway?

_ Come on, come on!_ Tegan concentrated. _I just need to borrow some of Van's strength. Just enough for a shotlock! _

"Give me strength!" she cried.

Her Wayfinder glowed before exploding in a blast of Darkness. Momentarily stunned, Tegan just stood by and watched as the dark aura surrounded her, seeping into her skin. It swirled around so violently that even the Heartless near her recoiled in terror.

Vanitas stopped for a second and watched the D-linking unfold. At once, he felt something snap and lock into place. Then it just happened. He could feel it. His heart connecting to hers, sharing its power with her.

_ Are you sure you want that girl connected to your heart? Connected to your strength?_

Tegan opened her eyes and rushed forward, now substantially fast with the power of the D-Link. As she neared Angelique and Emily, Tegan vanished from sight, only to reappear in the air above them, Saving Grace held in front of her like a Keyblade.

"Dark Cannon!" Tegan's voice overlapped with Vanitas's for a second as her eyes glowed with golden light. The Darkness which had surrounded her all rushed to the tip of her halberd, forming rotating, dark crystals. Pulling back her weapon, the crystals spun around her, generating devastating energy beams.

Angelique held her arms up to protect her head as the shotlock rained around her. Several small bursting sounds, followed by inhuman hisses, signaled that the Heartless and Nobodies around her were being destroyed. After a few moments or so, the hissing stopped and Angelique lowered her arms and marveled at the enemy-free space around her. It would seem that not only had Tegan's attack taken out the monsters around her and Emily, but also the ones around Kairi and Vanitas too.

Looking up she saw Tegan suspended in the air, panting heavily. Then she just dropped, her halberd disappearing from her hands and her Wayfinder slipping through her fingers. The glass charm landed in front of Angelique's feet and she rushed to scoop it up. With the Wayfinder safely in hand, the Witch looked up and let out a gasp.

As Tegan fell back to the ground a black blur raced up and grabbed her, landing safely in one of the trees. Her savior stood tall and proud, though it was impossible to gauge what his emotions really were from under the black hood…

"Hey! Let her go!" Kairi cried, pointing Destiny's Embrace at the Organization member. The cloaked figure simply held up a hand.

"Peace, Princess. Calm yourself." The voice was deep and calm, but altogether unfamiliar.

"Well let go of her!"

The Organization member jumped off his branch as Vanitas came leaping down on him. The ravenette grunted as he reached for another branch to keep himself from eating snow. The figure, with his arm around Tegan's shoulders, landed lightly on the ground in front of the girls. Effortlessly, he lifted Tegan up by the back of her jacket collar and brought her to eye level. The two exchanged glances as Tegan stared into the dark void of his deep hood. She could see dim light glinting inside, but that was all.

"You would do well to not rely on the strength of a weakling such as him." he said monotonously, dropping Tegan into the snow. Still panting, eyes glowing gold fire, Tegan glared daggers at him.

"What would _you_ know?" she snarled uncharacteristically. The others stared at Tegan in shock at the amount of venom in her voice.

"I know plenty, Angel." The figure snapped his fingers. "D-links can change a lot more than just your abilities. You can take on certain characteristics of the D-Linker…And who would want to be like that scared weakling?" He jerked a thumb back at Vanitas, who snarled and flung himself at his back, ready to slash it to ribbons. The Org. member just spread out an arm and a barrier sprang to life, knocking Vanitas away.

"And you call me sacred?!" Vanitas growled. "Drop the barrier and I'll show you how scared I am!"

The figure waved him off with an arrogant snort.

"Instead of getting your ass handed to you by me, don't you have something else to do?" he looked around. "From the looks off it, you guys are one person, or should I say _corpse_, short."

At that, everyone looked around and realized that he was right. Emily was gone!

_ She must have gone after Victor!_ Tegan realized. They had to act fast.

Tegan pushed herself to her feet. Nodding to the others, she moved back down the trail.

"Oh, before I forget." The Organization member materialized in front of Tegan, leaning in close. "Keep your wits above you, Angel. I'd hate to see such a pretty face get hurt…"

He brought a gloved hand to her face and pinched her cheek. Tegan snarled before spin-kicking him, only to have him dissolved into nothingness before her foot connected. All that was left was the sound of mocking laughter.

"I really hate these guys…" she growled, fists clenching.

"Worry about that later." Vanitas ordered. "Where'd the Bride go?"

Tegan looked around, eyes settling on a set of tracks in the snow leading away from them. She point to them.

"That way. Hurry, we don't have much time. We need to find the others."

The others nodded and they all ran in the direction of the tracks. As they did so, Vanitas noticed that Tegan was still in D-Link mode. Her face was set in a sour, pissed off frown and her eyes glowed brightly with gold light. It was an odd combination with the purple of her irises. Other than that, she looked like she wanted to throw someone out a window. As a being of chaotic emotions, the wall of hostile feelings around her was almost palpable.

_ Do I always look that pissed?_ He wondered.

"Tegan, cut off the D-Link." He ordered. "You'll just drain yourself. If we're in a rush we can't afford dead weight."

Tegan's glare snapped to him. Her eyes flashed fire and her body tensed, fists clenching. Her hand flashed up, snatching a fistful of the fabric of his collar. Her other hand raised up, fingers clenched in a fist. For a second, he actually thought she was going to hit him.

The others tensed forward, but Vanitas held up hand. His eyes stayed focused on Tegan's, almost daring her to hit him. But something flit across her eyes and she frowned.

"Let me go, Tegan."

Slowly, her grip lessened. Closing her eyes, Tegan took a deep breath and dissolved the Link. Her face relaxed and when her eyes opened again, they were a little tired, but no longer hostile.

"That was," she said. "Different…"

Vanitas couldn't help but snicker. _That_ was all she had to say about the D-Linking? Wow. Just wow.

Tegan shook her head to clear away the fog she felt like her mind was swimming in. That D-Link was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Powers far beyond what she was capable of. Emotions she never realized she could feel. It was unreal. It didn't take much thought to realize that she had been connected to Vanitas's heart. She didn't need that other guy to tell her that. The anger and frustration she had felt was unparalleled. No living thing should have to feel something like that. It had pressed on her mind and clouded her thoughts until the only thing she could think of was destruction.

_ Was that…No. Is that how Vanitas continues to feel? Even after all these years?_ She thought. _No one should have to go through with that. No wonder the Unversed sprang from him. All that hate and pain had to go somewhere…Better lay off the Link until I know how to handle it better._

"Hey guys! Over there, look!" Kairi veered off to the left, sliding down an icy hill, Keyblade gripped tightly in her hand. She stopped at a ledge over looking a small, tree filled glade.

Skidding to a stop, the other three looked down to see a pair of boys surrounded by Heartless. As one of them slashed forward, the other leapt back as a fireball burst from his Keyblade.

In the trees, Salem teleported from branch to branch, throwing knives and stars and needles at aerial Heartless like Blue Rhapsodies and Aerial Thrusters. One of the Rhapsodies whizzed by and hurled a chunk of ice the size of a baseball at the back of his head. It smacked with a loud crunch, and Salem toppled from his perch. Gritting his teeth, the young apprentice teleported himself high above the battleground, arms crossed in front of him.

"Sora, Riku, head for cover dudes!" he called. "Time to clear the playing field!"

As the two ground fighters ran out of Salem's line of fire, the Sorcerer's Apprentice spread his arms out wide, palms bathed with purple light. All around him, shards of black and white energy sprang into existence. The air crackled like static electricity. The shards elongated and soon a sea of needle-like projectiles surrounded Salem. Tegan watched as an unusually familiar smirk appeared on Salem's face.

"Later!" he shouted. "Needle Rain!"

Throwing his arms forward the needles shot out from the air and flew towards the Heartless. Whenever a needle made contact with a Heartless's hide, it erupted in a shower of purple light, ripping the Heartless to shreds. And if a Heartless tried to dodge a needle, all Salem had to do was twitch a finger and the needle would change direction to catch the creature. It was a spectacular display of light and destruction, holding all but Vanitas in awe.

Vanitas just sighed. He'd seen this move about a dozen times. Salem was a show-offish fool. The two both knew well how much energy that attack took out of him, yet Salem didn't seem to care.

_ Idiot._ Vanitas thought grimly. _You know very well how dangerous that move is. Are you trying to make yourself fade out of existence, Salem?_

Despite whatever risk it had, the attack did the trick. Within moments, all of the Heartless were gone. All that remained of the battle were a few scorch marks and tracks in the snow. Sora and Riku dismissed their Keyblades just in time to get tackled.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi cried as she embraced her friends. The two boys let out startled yelps.

"Hey!"

"Give me a break, Kairi!" Sora chuckled.

"It's about time we found you guys." Kairi stated, hands on her hips. "We've been looking everywhere! We we're even traipsing around in some 'Land of the Dead' trying to find you!"

"_Oui_." Angelique agreed. "But I for one am glad to be out of zere." She slipped her staff back into its sheath and straightened her dress. Movement caught her eye. "Salem!"

The four turned around to see Tegan and Vanitas supporting the Apprentice between them. Salem looked up, his skin a little pale under its tan.

"Oh, hey, Angie. Sup?" Salem's knees buckled under him as he tried to stand tall. Before he could face plant however, Vanitas grabbed his hood and hauled him up.

"Idiot. What were you thinking? Didn't Yen Sid tell you not to use that move?" he said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand.

"Aw whatever. How am I supposed to get used to that move if I don't use it?" Salem shrugged. "Don't tell me you actually care about what happens to me? I'm flattered, Vanni-boy."

"Yeah sure. Who else would I have to bash on if not you? Tegan?" Vanitas ignored the glare Tegan shot at him. "Anyway, you see a dead girl in a wedding dress go by here?"

Salem blinked. "Uh…no. Should I have?"

Tegan was about to explain when a bunch of crows started shrieking. Jumping, she noticed that multiple flocks of said birds were circling around in the trees, cackling like mad. There had to be at least thirty of them!

"Whoa!" Salem shouted as one crow took a dive at him. "What is this, 'The Birds'?!"

Tegan snapped to attention as she realized what was going on. Emily must have found Victor and Victoria!

"Shoot! Quick, Angie, Kairi, grab the boys! We're heading back down!"

Moving fast, Tegan looped her arm around Vanitas and grabbed Salem's arm. Realizing what was going on, Kairi latched onto Sora as Angelique groaned and grabbed Riku.

"Watch out, _mon amies_." She warned. "Zis is going to be a bumpy ride!"

As the unknowing boys let out shouts of confusion, the crows began circling around them at break-neck pace, feathers meshing together in a black blur. The cawing became deafening as Tegan's ears began to ring. Never before had she heard such an ear-shattering racket! Her head began to pound mercilessly. The cawing had turned violently to a sound much like scratching a nail down a chalkboard, only much louder. Tegan felt her eardrums surely might burst!

Then it happened. Something began to pull at her from the inside. She screamed in pain as her body felt like it was being pulled apart, stretched to the breaking point. The shrieking of the birds transformed into the rattling of metal chains as the pain centered on her back. Her spine felt like it was being pulled out from her. As a strange voice pushed into her mind.

_ That's it. Free the chains…Free them so you may fulfill Destiny's design. You must unlock the power if you are to be of any use to us…._

"Ahhh! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she screamed, her head on fire.

As if answering her prayers, her senses finally reached over load and Tegan lost consciousness.

* * *

**Tegan: What the heck was that about? seriously, my head hurts like mad after all that...**

**Salem: *spits out a crow feather* i have to agree with Sleepin Beauty here, that was a bit much.**

**L&DH: Well, that's your own fault there, Say. You had to use Needle rain. anyway, that's all for now.**

**Angelique: Hope you enjoyed the show!**

**Dante: *pops in fron a panel in the ceiling* I didn't. it was boring as hell! and when am i gonna show up?!**

**L&DH: 1, i don't care what you think. 2, next chapter.**

**everyone: BYE!**


	14. The You that We Know

**L&DH: hey guys! **

**Tegan: hey, check it out! *hunched over a laptop* we've got 51 reviews!**

**salem: No way!**

**dante: really?! **

***both push Tegan out of the way and look at the screen***

**angelique: zat is wonderful! *claps hands* Merci, everyone!**

**L&DH: totally! really, thank you all so much! now then, disclaimer please?**

**dante: L&DH doesn't own the Kingdom Heart franchise. if she did, i would fear for some of my comrades lives. sadly, the witch owns us...**

**salem: read and review!**

* * *

The teens all fell with a hard thunk on the floor of Gutknecht's tower. Tegan's head banged painfully on a trunk while Salem and Vanitas landed in one of the many piles of books scattered around the place.

"Ow…" Tegan blinked away tears. "Leave it to me to…"

"You lied to me!"

Everyone turned to see Emily push Victor away from her. Salem blinked in confusion at the undead bride while Sora and Riku merely raised an eyebrow. They had been to Halloween Town after all, so it wasn't really that surprising.

"You lied, just to get back to that other woman!" Emily accused.

"Don't you see?" Victor protested. "You're the other woman."

"No! You're married to ME! She's the other woman…" As Emily broke into sobs, Kairi rushed up and put a comforting arm around her.

"She's got a point, Vic." Tegan muttered as she pulled herself up.

"And I thought…And I thought this was all going so well…"

As Emily began to cry harder, the others looked to Tegan for answers. She sighed, knowing she would have to explain everything sooner or later. But now wasn't the time.

"Later." She mouthed.

"I'm sorry." Victor walked up to Emily. "But this just isn't going to work."

"And why not?!"

"Well, under different circumstances, well, who knows? But we're just too different. I mean, you're dead…"

"I don't exactly know what going on here," Salem frowned. "But shouldn't you have thought of that _before_ you married the poor girl? Really, dude."

Victor sighed frustratedly. "You don't understand, it was a mistake! I would never marry her!"

Emily let out a gasp as Victor realized what he said. Before anyone could stop her, Emily wrenched herself from Kairi and fled down the stairs.

"Emily, wait!" Kairi took off after her.

"Emily, stop!" Tegan turned around and glared at Victor before running down the stairs.

"Dude, that was harsh." Salem frowned. "You never talk to a lady, living or dead, like that…"

_ Wham!_

Victor's hands flew to his head as Angelique rushed by, staff swinging from hitting him. The witch paused outside the door and turned to Vanitas.

"Vanitas, look after ze boys, s'il vous plait. Some one must remedy ze situation and I fear the presence of all of you will only make things worse."

Vanitas nodded and Angie took off on her broom. Turning around, he saw Victor staring blankly at the doorway.

_ Idiot._

…

…

"Okay, so what happened Tegan?" Kairi asked as the three ran after Emily.

"Okay, so before Victor accidentally married Em," Tegan explained. "He was engaged to another girl upstairs, a girl named Victoria. That's why Victor has been trying to get back to the Land of the Living."

"I see." Angelique nodded. "Zat would explain 'is rather odd behavior as of late. But zat does not excuse such cruel treatment of Emily!"

Tegan did have to agree. She knew that it was all an accident, but after all Emily has been put through, Victor could have had a little more tack. Nobody deserved something like that, it was just unfair.

"Look!" Kairi exclaimed as Scraps came running around the corner.

The three came to a stop as the little dog recognized them and bounded over. Scraps ran up to Kairi and dropped a veil, yapping excitedly. Kairi picked it up and turned to the dog.

"Show us where Emily is, Scraps."

The little dog took off and led them to a secluded part of town. Tegan spied Emily on a bench, looking miserable, with Claude the maggot and Ms Widow comforting her.

"Maybe he's right." Emily sighed. "Maybe we are too different."

"Maybe he should have his head examined!" Claude exclaimed. "I could do it!"

"Well perhaps he does belong with her. Little Miss Living, with her rosy cheeks and beating heart…"

"Aw, come on, Em. Tell me you don't really think that?"

Emily looked up and saw Tegan, Kairi, and Angelique walking up to her. Kairi sat down next to her and put the veil on her lap.

"It doesn't matter whether you've got a heartbeat or not." Kairi said. "What matters is what's in your heart."

"Totally." Tegan agreed. "Who wouldn't love you, Em?"

"_Oui_." Angelique smiled. "You 'ave such a wonderful personality. You are a true _belle_, dead or not!"

Claude jumped up onto Tegan's shoulder as Ms Widow slimed onto Kairi's.

"What does that whispy little brat have that you don't have double?" Claude asked.

"She can't hold a candle to the beauty of your smile." Widow pointed out.

"How about a pulse?" Emily replied bitterly.

Tegan threw an arm around the bride's shoulders. "Overrated by a mile. Trust me."

"Overbearing!" Kairi exclaimed.

"If 'e only knew ze you zat we know." Angelique sighed as Emily turned away from them.

"And that silly little creature isn't wearing his ring." Widow encouraged, pointing one leg at the gold band around Emily's finger.

"And she doesn't play piano, or dance, or sing." Tegan listed with a smile. That much she knew for sure.

"_Non_. She does not compare." Angelique proclaimed.

"But she still breathes air." Emily pointed out.

"Emily, you're missing the point." Kairi said. "That stuff doesn't matter. If you can show him how special you can be, then you've got it."

"Show him the you that we know!" Tegan exclaimed, jumping up on the bench with her fist raised to the air.

Emily looked at all their smiling faces and sighed deeply. Pushing herself off the bench, she walked away.

"If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain. If you cut me with a knife it's all the same…" She leaned her head against a wooden door. "And I know her heart is beating, and I know that I am dead. But the pain here that I feel, try and tell me it's not real. I know that I am dead, but it seems that I still have some tears to shed…"

The girls looked at each other and rushed over.

"The only thing that separates you is a heart beat." Tegan agreed. "But it doesn't matter! We're all gonna die anyway, so why bother worrying about it?"

"You can't let this get in the way of your happiness, Emily." Kairi sat down next to her. "You are a wonderful person, and your heart is very bright. Trust me, I know. I can see the light inside your heart and that's what matters."

"We all see it, _ma cherie_." Angelique knelt down in front of Emily and smiled up at her. "Maybe Victor is not ze one for you. But you will not know unless you try. You need to show 'im who you are! But you can not assume that just because you are dead and 'e is alive that you do not have a chance."

Summoning up all her courage, Angelique reached out and put her hands around Emily's bony one. Emily gasped and looked at the young witch in wonder. The others smiled at each other when they noticed no fear in Angelique's bright eyes.

"Trust me,_ mon amie_. You must give it a chance."

…

…

In the Everglot mansion, Vitoria's pleas to help her beloved fiancée fell on deaf ears as her parents slammed the door in her face, the sound echoing throughout the entire manor. There would be no discussion; she would marry Lord Barkus and that was final.

In the shadows of the hallway, Barkus watched the whole scene with amusement. He turned around and strutted his way down the hall, pausing to stop and gaze at Victoria's portrait. He reached out a hand and stroked the painted face, leering wickedly at its serene expression. But to him, Victoria's face looked almost miserable.

"Oh, me dear." He crooned. "No, don't look at me that way. You have only to suffer this union 'til death do us part. And that will come sooner than you think." He turned to a column near him. "Is that not right, my friends?"

A childish laugh echoed eerily from the shadows. Into the light stepped three, black-clad figures; one tall male, one tall female, and one smaller child, tripping over his long coat. The child threw back his hood and shook out his red hair.

"You got it, my Lord."

Dante inwardly gagged at having to use that title. He didn't feel like giving this man any courtesy, after he had made fun of his age. But his partners, in order to complete their mission, made it clear that he was to play along until the time was right. So he would put up with this pompous windbag. For now.

"Leave it to us, sir." The female replied.

Barkus nodded and went back down the hallway to his rooms, leaving the three Organization members to themselves.

Dante sighed and sat himself down on one of the staircase railings.

"How much longer do we have to put up with this?" he whined.

"Until the mission is complete." The female replied exaspheredly. "How many times must I tell you this, Young One?"

"I wasn't talking to you, 11. Just shut up, will ya?" Dante barked.

"Dante, enough. You know she's right." The last figure sighed, revealing the distorted voice of 10. "At any rate, the time is almost upon us."

Dante brightened up. "You mean it?" 10 nodded and the boy rubbed his hands together. "Finally, I was getting bored."

* * *

**Tegan: alright, what are you guys up to? *frowns at Dante, 10, and 11***

**dante: nothing you need to know about, peasant!**

**tegan: what did you call me?! *lifts him up by his hood* watch what you say, you shrimp! i'm not afriad to throw you out a window!**

**L&DH: *watches the two argue* well, there they go again...  
**

**10: what are we going to do with him?**

**11: who knows? anyway, Authoress, what is up next?**

**L&DH: well, it depends. if i can fit it in, we'll get the wedding prep scene. if not, i'll come up with something.**

**11: alright. On behalf of the cast, i thank you for reading. *bows***

**10: review if you wish. just remember, it is always appreciated.**

**L&DH: bye!**


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